To:

Members, Board of Education

From:

Maurice O. Green, Superintendent
Terrence Young, Chief Information Officer

Date:

February 6, 2009

RE:

Approval of Dedicated Internet Access Service

AT&T Communications (formerly BellSouth Business) currently provides Internet access for the Guilford County School District. The service delivers high-speed Internet access to all elementary, middle and traditional high schools. The required access speed has continued to increase as schools have continued to use the network for more bandwidth-intensive applications. The district currently uses a 250 Mbps circuit dedicated to this purpose at a cost of over $22,000 per month.

With this requirement for bandwidth anticipated to continue, it would be advantageous to implement a long-term contract and receive the associated savings. Attached is an Addendum to Master Contract with AT&T. The vendor would continue to provide a 250 Mbps circuit dedicated to Internet access. The term of the new contract would continue for a 36-month period and would reduce the cost to $13,680 per month. Future upgrades would not be penalized so long as the district continues service with AT&T.

Internet access is eligible for reimbursement by the Schools and Libraries Program for Universal Service Fund (ERate). Guilford County Schools includes this expenditure in our annual application process and has historically been reimbursed at a rate of approximately 66%. The reimbursement percentage is based on free and reduced lunch participation.

RECOMMENDATION:  The administration recommends that the board approve the contractual agreement with AT&T Communications to provide dedicated internet access at a cost of $13,680 per month.

Attachment - Agreement