With Idaho's Internet pact stuck in limbo, Lewiston opts to become its own navigator

With the future of state-sponsored Internet service in question, the Lewiston School Board opted Monday to put its broadband contract out to bid.

The fate of the Idaho Education Network, which has provided Internet service to schools around the state since 2009, sits with the Idaho Legislature after a judge ruled in November that the $60 million contract for the service was awarded illegally.

Because of uncertainty about the validity of the contract, the state has been denied its rebate from a federal program that should cover about 70 percent of the cost for the network. Last year, the Legislature approved more than $11 million to keep the program going, but that fix ends in February.

Lewiston School District Assistant Superintendent Lance Hansen told the board Monday the district should prepare for the possibility it will have to purchase all the bandwidth it needs.

But even if the state remedies the situation and the network continues to operate, Hansen said the district will need to expand its contract for additional service.

"We're getting close to capacity on bandwidth, currently," Hansen said.

Putting the service out for bid now allows the district the option of filing for its own rebate through the federal program, Hansen said, a discount of around 70 percent.

"It allows us to increase our bandwidth regardless of what happens at the state," he said.

The district now relies on the Idaho Education Network to supplement its service, using 45 megabits per second Internet to cover the high school, alternative high school and two junior highs. Its seven elementary schools and the district office are served through a single 100 Mbps service in a contract with XO Communications.

Because the district's current contract with XO Communications is for both Internet and phone services, new proposals must be for both as well, Hansen said. Bids will be reviewed by the school board Feb. 11.

A detailed request for bids will be posted today on the district's website, lewistonschools.net.

Also at Monday's meeting:

• Superintendent Bob Donaldson gave a brief overview of budgets presented earlier in the day by Gov. C.L. (Butch) Otter and newly elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra.

Under the proposals, the Lewiston District would stand to see about $30,000 from a drug-free schools program, doubling what it received last year, Donaldson said, and $100,000 from Idaho Lottery money, up by about a third.

• The board gave the green light to move forward with an automated system for managing substitute teacher schedules.

Hansen said the district would subscribe to the system for a fee of about $10,000 for the first year, which includes training for an employee to administer it. Donaldson said automating the system for assigning substitute teachers is part of a plan to address a districtwide sub shortage. The district is also looking into increasing substitute teacher pay by about $5 a day, he said.

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Stone may be contacted at mstone@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2244. Follow her on Twitter @MarysSchoolNews.