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Board approves E-Rate procurement process for routers and firewall support
Summary
The Great Falls Public Schools board voted to initiate an E-Rate request for proposals to replace district routers and secure firewall licensing; staff said E-Rate typically covers about 80% of eligible networking equipment and estimated router replacements at roughly $80,000.
The Great Falls Public Schools Board of Trustees voted Jan. 12 to authorize staff to advertise and solicit competitive bids for district routers and firewall licensing through the federal E-Rate program.
"I'm coming before you tonight to ask your permission to start the E-Rate process," Mr. Williams told the board, outlining that E-Rate ordinarily pays about 80% of eligible network infrastructure and that the district has 24 routers that need replacement. He said the routers are expected to total about $80,000, which would trigger a formal competitive bid unless the district can procure equipment via a state contract.
Trustee Turetsky moved to approve the process and timeline presented for creation and evaluation of submitted competitive bids for the E-Rate RFPs; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. Chairman Gordon Johnson called for the ayes and declared, "Motion carries." The board did not record a roll-call tally in the meeting transcript.
Williams told trustees that firewall licensing falls under a different E-Rate category and, because the estimated firewall licensing expense is below the district's procurement threshold (less than $80,000), it may not require an open bidding process. He said staff will post the RFP notification in local newspapers and follow statutory procurement timelines while checking whether state contract procurement is an option.
The board directed staff to proceed with advertising and preparing bid evaluations; staff will return with the results of the solicitation in a subsequent meeting. No specific vendor was selected during the meeting, and no formal award was recorded.
The action authorizes the district to seek E-Rate funding and replace aging routers to maintain network reliability and connectivity across school buildings.
