photo by: Lawrence school district

David Vignery, director of technology for the Lawrence school district, touts the benefits of the district's private fiber network during Tuesday's ribbon-cutting ceremony at Lawrence High School. Looking on are Lawrence school board members Shannon Kimball and Ronald "G.R." Gordon-Ross.

The Lawrence school district expects to save more than $10,000 a month on its internet costs now that it owns its own internet system, while dramatically increasing internet speeds at its 21 buildings.

But district officials are exploring another type of internet breakthrough that could bring game-changing speeds and access to the homes of students and staff. While still in the early planning phase, the district is also aiming to build its own 5G broadband network — a potentially multimillion dollar endeavor that would need to be green-lit by both the school board and Lawrence City Commission.

“We would be looking at putting up our own 5G hardware on towers and poles and pushing that out over the neighborhoods, and allowing the students to connect to that,” David Vignery, the district’s director of technology, said.

Vignery said that 5G broadband would allow students and staff the ability to connect to the district’s network from anywhere within the city.

Vignery also estimated that construction costs could be in the neighborhood of $4 million to $5 million, as well as an additional annual cost in the low six-figure range to maintain the network.

The topic was briefly broached by City Commissioner Brad Finkeldei during Tuesday’s City Commission meeting, and Vignery told the Journal-World that initial limited discussions with the city have been positive.

“I have four vendors out there that have shown interest,” Vignery said, adding that he’s hopeful that the formal bidding process for a project manager will commence by the end of the year.

The district’s recently completed WAN (Wide Area Network) project has opened the door for the district to have its own 5G broadband network. As part of the WAN project, the district parted ways with longtime service provider Midco and instead signed a 20-year pact with Overland Park-based company WANRack LLC. Receiving approval from the board in early 2022, the deal could stretch through 2041.

photo by: Lawrence school district screenshot

David Vignery, the Lawrence school district’s director of technology, cuts the ribbon during Tuesday’s ceremony at Lawrence High School.

The contract allows the district to renegotiate the terms in five-year intervals and even opt out as early as 2026. According to information contained in its Jan. 10, 2022, agenda packet, the board gave unanimous approval for the construction of a private fiber network at a cost of roughly $2.7 million for the first contract period (2022-26) and $3.5 million for the duration of the contract if it were not renegotiated.

The district also received a sizable discount through the Federal E-Rate program, as well as a smaller one-time rebate for construction-related costs.

With the rebates in place, the district is saving roughly $12,000 monthly for its WAN services compared with the price-point it had been locked into with Midco. Another paradigm shift relates to the source of the funding, with the district’s Capital Outlay Fund now playing a much larger role than the General Fund. According to the January 2022 agenda packet, the move allowed the district greater financial flexibility while confronting consequential fiscal measures — such as school closures and annual districtwide contract negotiations.

“Although there are additional expenses out of the capital fund for construction of a private network, there are significant savings to be realized in the General Fund with reduced cost (of internet services),” the board packet said, noting that the plan will incrementally increase gigabyte capacity while affording the district an annual six-figure savings to its General Fund.

Speaking at an event Tuesday to celebrate the completion of the WAN project, Superintendent Anthony Lewis said that the switch would net the district a $3 million savings to its General Fund over the next 20 years, calling it “huge and exciting.” The savings to the General Fund ranges from approximately $139,000 to $179,000 annually for the duration of the contract.

“As you know, the General Fund is what we use to pay our teacher and staff salaries and benefits and what we use to provide educational resources and materials for our scholars,” he said.

Casey Russell, the broadband infrastructure program manager for the Kansas Department of Commerce, said Tuesday that the department “used every tool in the toolkit to make this happen.”

“This is what a successful project looks like,” Russell said, adding that the blueprint used by the Lawrence district would be “important to all Kansans in the next couple of years.”

As members of the facilities planning committee, school board members Ronald “G.R.” Gordon-Ross and Shannon Kimball led the efforts to implement the plan. During Tuesday’s ceremony, Gordon-Ross touted the main benefits as increased bandwidth and overall speed, as well as a reduction in downtime.

Asking the audience to imagine the district’s data network as a highway, Gordon-Ross said that the changeover to its own network has “upped the speed limit from 65 to about 150” and also “added lanes for all of the traffic.”

“That’s important in terms of providing content for our students and staff to the information they need in a timely manner,” Gordon-Ross said.

WANRack CEO Rob Oyler, a Lawrence High alumnus, said that his company has launched more than 250 similar projects nationwide but that this one was “near and dear to his heart” because of the Lawrence connection.