Some bids were discussed by the Marshall School Board during its meeting on Tuesday, March 24.
According to unofficial minutes, assistant superintendent Dr. Terry Lorenz reported bids had been advertised for the Wide Area Network (WAN) connectivity, fiber connectivity and Internet access. The district’s E-Rate discount for Category 2 items, which includes WAN and Internet access, is based on the district’s free and reduced-lunch count, which is 80 percent.
Marshall Municipal Utilities (MMU) submitted the only bid for WAN connectivity, including no installation nor service fees, and the monthly recurring cost of $900. That was approved by the board.
For Internet access, bids were received from Blue Bird, MMU and Socket Internet. The district’s current bandwidth is 250 MB, with a need to move to 500 MB. Bluebird submitted a bid for 500 MB at $920 per month, $160 a month IP subnet and $1,000 installation for $12,960 annually making the total amount $13,960- which was approved by the board.
Category one items, which include fiber connecting a single campus or multiple campuses can be awarded at 80 to 100 percent. The district has good fiber connectivity between the campuses, but it needs to add or improve the fiber connectivity ring at the MHS and Spainhower campuses. The ring at MHS would pick up the Saline County Career Center, Marshall High School, the Industrial Arts building, Central Office and the entire sports complex. The ring at Spainhower would pick up Spainhower, the Tudor house, the guest house, maintenance and distribution- with room for expansion.
Bluebird and Advanced Communications submitted bids for fiber connectivity. Dr. Lorenz recommended accepting a bid from Advanced Communications for $392,046. He is working to get this Category 1 project covered at 90 to 100 percent. The board approved the recommendation.
In other news, Dr. Lorenz reported the district had advertised for paper bids with the deadline being April 1. Only one bid had been received at the time of the meeting for $23 per case; however, the district will need to buy 840 cases. He was expecting a bid from Springfield paper for $31 per case. It was pointed out the district uses approximately 600 cases per year, but Dr. Lorenz said the price per case is increasing. The board voted to approve the bid of $23 per case for 840 cases. The district will store the excess paper until it is needed.