Will help build faster online network

A state grant is expected to provide area students with faster and more varied access to Internet learning.

Lincoln Intermediate Unit 12 and Capitol Intermediate Unit 15, which represent more than 175,000 students in York, Adams, Cumberland, Perry and Dauphin counties, recently received a three-year, $1.8 million grant from the state’s Department of Education.

The funds come from Act 183, legislation passed in 2004 to create an “eFund” of $10 million set aside annually over the next six years to help the state’s schools buy hardware, technical assistance and distance education resources to connect to broadband Internet.

The $1.8 million will be used locally to build and connect to a Wide Area Network (WAN) using fiber-optic cable.  Some school districts, such as Eastern York, have approved entering into the network. Other districts are expected to vote within the coming weeks, said Terry Steyer, director of technology services at LUI 12.

Better connections: The new network is expected to drastically increase the bandwidth to York County’s school districts, said Michael Clemens, executive director of LIU 12.  Some school districts have Internet connections that are slow or bogged down if too many students are logged on, he said.

“By having the greater bandwidth, districts can bring in more and better content,” he said.

For example, school districts will be able to connect to “Internet2,” an educational Internet that is limited to educational and research programs, without all of “the pop-ups,” Clemens said.  Such a connection could have taken too long on the smaller bandwidths available in some school districts, he said.

Districts can also save money using the network by putting in place hardware that would allow them to operate telephones over the Internet instead of making long-distance telephone calls, Clemens said.

School district officials might have to communicate for a variety of reasons, ranging from student transfers to transportation issues. When snow starts mid-afternoon, superintendents might want to ask other school district superintendents if they are dismissing students early.

The new network could also create course-sharing and distance learning opportunities for districts involved in the network, he said. A class could be taught in one school district and students in another district could see and interact with the class.

In the past, course-sharing was too costly for districts because they had to pay for the lines to “transport” the class, Clemens said.

Different costs: Clemens said the idea for a multi-district network isn’t a new one, but the start-up fees have only recently been manageable.

“I started talking about it with superintendents about seven years ago, but back then the expense was $17 million to build a network among all districts,” he said.  The technology is less expensive now, he said.

In Eastern, connecting to the network would initially cost district taxpayers about $130,000. The connection would cost the district $26,300 annually during 2007 and 2008; and nearly $34,000 annually between 2009 and 2011, according to school officials.

Steyer said each school district will pay a different amount because of its federal reimbursement for technology and communication.

Different districts have different ratings for the amount of funding they get from the “E-Rate” program, a federal telecommunications program put into place under former President Bill Clinton.

Money for the federal program comes from the Universal Service Fee imposed on people’s land-line telephone bills, Steyer said.

York City will be reimbursed for more than 80 percent of its connection fees, but schools such as Central, Dallastown, Southern and South Eastern receive less than 50 percent reimbursement under the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Steyer said the network connectivity should be final by the middle of February.

--Reach Christina Kauffman at 505-5434 or ckauffman@yorkdispatch.com.