Schools may get faster network ; Agreement with Cox means more for less
Aaron Kuriloff St. Bernard/Plaquemines bureau

November 12, 2003
Source: (New Orleans) Times-Picayune

A new agreement between the St. Bernard Parish public school system and Cox Communications means students could be doing research, writing reports and learning technology skills next year on a school district computer network that could be faster and more powerful than that of any school system in the state, district officials said Tuesday.

The deal, if approved, would increase the network's speed to the fastest available -- all without increasing the cost per school, said Carl Gaines, St. Bernard's technology coordinator.

Cox was the lowest of bidders and offered the district more services for less money, Gaines said. The district already pays about $18,500 per month to Cox for its existing network, but that agreement expires this year, allowing officials to seek improvements along with new bids.

"For $25 less a month, we get a state-of-the-art system," Gaines said. "We'll be the first (of these) networks in the state, and St. Charles (Parish) will probably be a few months behind us. We're getting a fabulous deal."

When Cox technicians built the district's communications links five years ago, they were state-of-the-art, but the digital pipelines have clogged as more students joined the network and attempted tasks such as video editing that require greater bandwidth, Gaines said.

Money for easing the information gridlock comes, in large part, from the federal government, which has contributed more than $3.5 billion to more than 50,000 schools and libraries nationwide through the "E-Rate" program, Assistant Superintendent Doris Voitier said. If members approve the deal at the School Board's regular monthly meeting next week, the district will pay about $5,600 a month, roughly 28 percent of the total costs.

Investing in technology pays immediate dividends, Gaines and Voitier said. Students could use the links to share projects between schools, to edit sound or video, to manipulate large databases and to conduct many other tasks. Teachers could use up-to-the-minute technology for their lessons.

Although St. Charles Parish recently announced plans to upgrade network connections at several schools, Voitier said St. Bernard appears to be the first school district in Louisiana to create a maximum-speed network for all its schools.

"We're probably the first district in the state to do this," she said. "But why not? For the same money, we (multiply) our speed."