School district's Internet deal is delayed for a year
By Joann Groff joann@theacorn.com

A pricey plan to improve the district's Internet network has been put on hold for a year after many Conejo Valley Unified School District parents argued that it wasn't the right time.

In the second meeting in as many weeks regarding implementation of a highspeed, fiberoptic network, it was decided there were too many questions and inadequate time before a funding deadline this week to proceed with the project, said Jeff Baarstad, deputy superintendent of business services.

Baarstad came to the first meeting with a recommendation for the board of education to approve a $1.6 million bid from Sunesys. The contract proposed $300,000 in annual spending over the next few years.

Many parents were angry that, during a time when CVUSD is deciding which two schools to close, the board would consider an expensive technology project.

Verizon representatives were also disappointed that their company wasn't awarded the bid, although Baarstad said their paperwork was incomplete. Verizon was given another chance to submit a bid, but in the end, there were still concerns.

"We just didn't have enough information to be completely confident," Baarstad said. "There were still some differences between Verizon and Sunesys and how they approach this, and there were still some questions up in the air over which would serve our needs best now and in five years."

Both proposals would require a five-year contract.

"We decided the best course of action was to put it off a year," Baarstad said. "That causes us some problems with our current network, but it was still the best choice."

It costs about $4,000 to replace one of the out-dated file servers at each school. If one breaks, it will need to be replaced, and then replaced again the following year with the new technology.

"We have about 17 months to wait now for the new network," Baarstad said. "We are going to make the stuff last the best we can."