About half of Idaho schools join Wi-Fi contract

BOISE (AP) - Idaho Department of Education officials say 203 schools have decided to sign up for a new statewide high school wireless Internet contract.

That brings the cost to about $10,300 per school.

Among those opting in is the Boise School District, which had bristled at State Schools Superintendent Tom Luna's proposal in 2011 to give every high school student a laptop.

"At its core, this is an infrastructure project, not a device project," Boise superintendent Don Coberly said. "We believe that it's much more appropriate for the state to help us build a highway than to tell us what kind of cars we need to buy."

Education Networks of America won the bid to equip as many as 340 Idaho schools with the wireless Internet access. So far, only about 60 percent of the schools listed in that original bid have signed up. But Education Department spokeswoman Melissa McGrath said the 340 number included middle schools that won't be eligible after all. McGrath said only about 250 schools statewide are eligible for the assistance.

Luna's handling of the contract has been criticized by some lawmakers and opponents who said the money went to a company that had political ties to the superintendent.

Among the critics was Sen. Dean Cameron, R-Rupert, the co-chairman of the Legislature's budget committee. Cameron complained Luna used $2.5 million in one-time money to sign the multiyear contract that could run up to 15 years; and the lawmaker said he won't rule out seeking to defund the program next year.

But Luna has countered that a multiyear contract was the only way to carry out what he saw as the Legislature's intent in bringing Wi-Fi to schools and that the contract allows the state to exit if ongoing funding isn't granted.

The schools should be connected to wireless Internet by March. Other participating schools are in districts including Meridian, Nampa and Caldwell in southwestern Idaho; Blackfoot, Idaho Falls and Teton County in eastern Idaho and Post Falls, Moscow and Boundary County in North Idaho.

The Coeur d'Alene School District plans to hook up with a Post Falls-based company for its wireless service.