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Idaho School Broadband in the Lurch After Court Scuttles Deal

The state sent school districts instruction in January on how to apply themselves for federal e-rate money to pay for broadband, and some are moving ahead.

(TNS) --  Idaho schools may have to individually replace the state’s broadband service, after an awaited second court ruling again voided the state’s contract with Education Networks of America and CenturyLink.

Wednesday’s decision also means the state likely won’t pay the two providers the more than $4 million in bills that have built up since Fourth District Judge Patrick Owen’s original ruling in November that voided the state’s Idaho Education Network contract. The providers have threatened to shut off the broadband service to Idaho’s high school by Feb. 22 if the state doesn’t pay.

“It’s going to sit in the bank,” said House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, of the cash. “We can’t pay on a voided contract.”

The Department of Administration’s original plan to find a temporary stop-gap provider, while the state finds a long-term solution, doesn’t appear feasible, Bedke said.

“I don’t see a statewide emergency contract happening,” Bedke said.

Instead, Bedke is telling the school districts he represents to find broadband services individually. He said the state should cover the districts’ costs.

“The most important thing here is we don’t disrupt the education that’s going on in local school districts over their broadband network,” said Bedke.

The state sent school districts instruction in January on how to apply themselves for federal e-rate money to pay for broadband, and some are moving ahead.

“Cassia County is currently exploring Plan B options,” said district spokeswoman Debbie Critchfield. Her district is one of the biggest users of the IEN’s services in the state, and many students at Declo High School are using it to take classes they need to graduate.

“It has definitely helped in our more rural schools, where they’re not able to offer some of the classes due to ... a lower enrollment,” she said.

Critchfield said the district is applying for e-rate money again this year — they had been receiving it before anyway, and using it for non-IEN technology programs.

The state had received e-rate money to pay for much of the IEN’s cost until 2013, when the feds stopped paying due to concerns about the contract’s legality. The Legislature has appropriated money to keep it going since then, but the funding runs out at the end of February.

Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, and Rep. Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, the co-chairs of the Joint Finance Appropriation Committee, said that while having school districts get their own broadband is one of the options, others are still being weighed, including a temporary contractor.

“Everybody is doing everything we can think of to make sure the schools find out the resources they need,” said Bell.

Keeping broadband in classrooms statewide through June 30 is the focus, they said. Bell said she expects a temporary solution to be in place in the next 10 days.

“At the end of the day, kids can’t suffer because of the mistakes of adults,” said Cameron.

Syringa Networks, which originally was part of the contract to provide broadband Internet to Idaho’s high schools, sued in 2009, saying then-Department of Administration Director Mike Gwartney illegally cut them out of the deal. Owen declared the contract void in November, prompting the state to put payments to the contractors on hold until Owen clarified whether the underlying contract or only amendments to it were void.

Owen’s 25-page ruling Wednesday says the entire contract, and all the work done under it, was illegal because the state didn’t following bidding laws. He also said almost $4 million in non-IEN related work the two contractors did for the state and for schools under the contract was illegal, too.

“This case presents the issue of illegality squarely,” Owen wrote. “As detailed ... the bid process by DOA does not comply with state procurement law.”

State law requires money paid out under an illegal contract to be repaid. Owen acknowledges this in his ruling, but says “any such issues are not presently before the court.” Bell and Cameron said they don’t know yet how this is going to play out, either.

The Department of Administration is appealing, Bedke said. That department and Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter’s office are reviewing the judgment and “a decision about how to proceed will be forthcoming,” said IEN spokeswoman Camille Wells.

After figuring out what to do for the rest of this year, lawmakers will need to decide how to keep the network going long-term. The DOA has already started the bidding process on a long-term contract.

“We don’t know exactly what it’s going to look like, but it does give us a clean break,” said Bedke.

©2015 The Times-News (Twin Falls, Idaho)