The district had been paying roughly $330,000 annually during its three-year contract with AT&T, but after the provider wanted to "quadruple" its rates, the district began exploring other options, according to information discussed at Lubbock ISD's Board of Trustees regularly scheduled workshop Thursday.
The board approved renewing its contract with AT&T for just one more year, paying roughly $577,000 — or 72 percent more — for the same services.
After that year of service from AT&T, the district hopes to begin using a new fiber network, constructed by Unite Private Network.
The district reviewed nine bids, including one from AT&T Corp., before choosing Unite Private Network, which will construct a $4.1 million dedicated wide-area network. Eighty percent of the multi-million-dollar project will be paid for using federal funding made available through an E-rate program. Trustees on Thursday approved paying the remaining 20 percent, up to $829,000, for construction costs. Annual service costs will be $227,940.
In an effort to bring Lubbock ISD's total cost down to zero, Chief Technology Officer Terry Driscoll will speak before the Texas Senate Committee on Education on Tuesday to see if the state can fund 10 percent of the project, or $415,000. If the state approves funding the project, the federal government will match that amount, paying the remaining 10 percent, meaning construction costs for the fiber network will be at no cost to the district, Driscoll said.
Even if the state doesn't agree to help fund the project, Driscoll said it will pave the way for other Texas districts looking to receive similar funding from the state.
In other news, the board trustees were presented with an early look at the district's 2016-17 budget, including expense and revenue compared to the current year.
They also listened to a presentation by school finance consulting firm Moak, Casey & Associates, but took no action on that item. The firm's presentation included information about a way the district can access up to $5.8 million in revenue without a tax increase.
The option the firm presented is a "tax swap" that would move two cents from the district's rate for debt service and add those two cents to district's maintenance and operations tax rate. The overall tax rate would remain at $1.235, which it has been for the past 10 years.
©2016 the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (Lubbock, Texas), distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
