The DeSoto School District will pay more than $250,000 to improve the district’s internet connectivity and technology capabilities.
DeSoto Board of Education members voted 6-0 on March 5 to pay $255,265 for the Provision Data Solutions project in St. Louis.
The majority of the bids were for equipment, cloud management (including recurring costs) and installation, totaling $250,656, according to board documents.
Provision Data Solutions has until July 1 to install the equipment, according to board documents.
Administrator Josh Isaacson said 70 percent of those costs will be reimbursed by the federal e-rate program, which is designed to make internet connectivity and telecommunications services more affordable for schools and libraries, according to the FCC .
Isaacson said the board approved an additional $4,609, which is not reimbursable at electronic rates, to replace a switch in the district’s central office. Electronic rates cannot be reimbursed because there are no students in the central office, he said.
“E-rate’s reimbursement amount for this project is $175,459.20,” Isaacson said, adding that the remaining $79,805.80 will come from the district’s technology fund.
According to board documents, the project includes about 58 network switches and one network switch that supports 100 gigabyte connections to the main WAN (wide area network) circuit. A switch connects different devices that belong to the same network.
Isaacson said the project will not only improve internet connectivity but also improve performance when downloading and using technology.
“The district has installed updated cabling and the (new) switches will allow the district to (increase internet speeds),” he said.
The district received bids from two companies. The other is a Fortinet switch design from Heartland Business Systems that costs $242,052.99. Provision Data Solutions’ bid was not the lowest, but the best, according to board documents.
“The overall design is to better meet the long-term needs of the district,” said Deana Pope, the district’s technical director.