IMPROVING CONNECTIVITY IN CALIFORNIA K-12 PUBLIC SCHOOLSCENIC 2015 Annual Conference

March 10, 2015

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Today’s Presentation

• Introductions• Background• Timeline• Broadband Infrastructure Improvement Grants• Statewide Needs Assessment Report on Connectivity

• Role of CENIC• Questions

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Introductions

• Cindy Kazanis - Director of the Educational Data Management Division at the California Department of Education

• Luis Wong – Chief Technology Officer for Imperial County Office of Education and the K12 High Speed Network Program

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Background

• Included in Senate Bill (SB) 852, are one-time funds to assist school districts in enhancing their network connectivity, specifically the “last mile” connection in order for them to be successful during the 2014–15 computer assessments. To accomplish this work, the Broadband Infrastructure Improvement Grant (BIIG) program was established.

• A second component of the work calls for a Statewide Needs Assessment Report on network infrastructure to, and within, schools in order to better understand the gaps and the resources needed to close them.

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TimelineBroadband Infrastructure Improvement Grants• Develop Grant Process July – August 2014• BIIG Identification and Self Nomination August – Sept 2014• BIIG Validation Sept – Oct 2014• BIIG Procurement (RFP) Oct – Dec 2014• BIIG Ranking/Peer Review December 2014• BIIG Grant Announcements January 2015• BIIG Implementation Feb 2015–Jun 2016

Statewide Needs Assessment Report• Data Collection/Needs Assessment August – Dec 2014• Report Development Oct 2014–Feb 2015• Report Released March 1st, 2015• Supplemental Needs Assessment Report April 17th, 2015

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Broadband Infrastructure Improvement Grants (BIIG)• A process was developed for Local Educational Agencies

that qualify, to improve network infrastructure (i.e. last mile), giving a priority to those hardship cases that need immediate assistance in order to implement the 2014–2015 computer-based assessment.

• As required by SB 852, a condition of receiving grant funding, is a commitment from the LEA to support the ongoing costs associated with improved Internet infrastructure.

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BIIG - Resources• $26.7M one-time resources to improve network

connectivity• Grantees will receive the benefits of BIIG through service

coordinated by K12HSN & CENIC.• If insufficient funds are available to award all applications,

a funding priority ranking will be applied until all funds are exhausted.

• Grant funds will be prioritized to last mile network connectivity infrastructure for school sites that fall under the first priority for critical need.

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BIIG – Process• Identify Sites – List was published on Sept. 2• Self Nominate – LEAs nominated sites in Sept.• Validate Sites – Collect additional data points

• Pre-validation – Classify sites within the priorities of the grant• Full Validation – For sites that qualify – additional fact finding• Technical Review – Met all qualifications and were included in RFP

• Ranking of sites based on priority and number of students

• Procurement – Request for Proposals (RFP) to explore technical solutions and cost

• Implementation

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Where we are today• 304 Schools sites moved to the final round• RFP closed on December 8th

• 240 school sites received a bid from service providers• 64 school sites received no bids

• As of February 25th – 66 sites have considered withdrawing from the Grant• Potential Relocation or Closure• Under existing agreements with Service Providers that include

termination fees• Concerned about the ongoing costs• Ongoing conversations are taking place with sites

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Examples of Schools that will Benefit

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Next Steps• Contract negotiations with Service Providers• Assemble project teams that will work on the

implementation of the improved connections• Site Readiness Surveys• Document Design• Equipment Ordering• Coordination with Service Providers on delivery of circuit• Testing and Connection turn-up

• Implementation timelines will vary. The largest variance will be when the service provider will provide the improved connection.

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Next Steps• K12HSN and CENIC continue to explore solutions for the

remaining 64 school sites.• Some solutions may be identified in time for next E-rate funding

cycle.• Others will require more long term planning and quite possibly be

the more expensive sites to connect.• Solutions for about 12 sites have been found. Some do not connect

the sites to CalREN.

• K12HSN is working on identifying alternative solutions to these schools sites that my require non-traditional approaches to solving broadband access in the interim.

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BIIG – Lessons Learned• BIIG funds will be available to improve connectivity up to

227 schools sites affecting 63,000 students.• Service Providers were very supportive of the process

and exceeded our expectations in terms of response rates.

• There is a high variance in the installations costs of the improved connections• Bar-O, a school site in Del Norte County received a bid to connect

with a proposed special construction cost of $10M• Average special construction cost for data circuits $52,662 (not

including Bar-O)

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BIIG – Lessons Learned• The average cost to improve connectivity to schools sites is

$111,000 to include equipment, connection and installation.• An equipment and installation allowance is included for each site.

• We estimate that connecting the 227 schools sites will cost up to $22.5M• The remaining funds will be used to seek solutions for the sites with no

bids.• These sites will most likely be the most expensive to connect. (Bar-O,

Mountain High)

• The final cost to implement for each will be highly dependent on the time of installation. This will determine if the E-rate subsidy will apply to the installation costs.

• While school sites will see an increased monthly cost (100%) for the improved connection, there will be a huge improvement in the quality of the connection.

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BIIG – Lessons Learned

Before

• Speed in kbps 7.13• MRC in $ 999.56• Cost/Mbps in $ 343.87• Cost/student in $ 20.1• Kbps/Student in kbps 106

After

• Speed in kbps 913• MRC in $ 1,980• Cost/Mbps in $ 4.03 • Cost/student in $ 38.77 • Kbps/Student in kbps 16,062

In Average

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BIIG – Lessons Learned• 95% of the proposed solutions will be provided via fiber

optic, allowing sites to scale their connections. This will allow sites to increase capacity in future with minimal expenses.

• 90% of the proposed solutions will be running at 1,000 Mbps – a dramatic improvement over 1.5 Mbps like we saw in a lot of cases.

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BIIG – Lessons Learned

Before

• Copper 77%• Wireless 12%• Other 10%• *Fiber 1%

* While this sites reported fiber, their upstream connection at the next hop was poor - these sites received no bids

After

• Wireless 5%• Fiber 95%

Physical Medium Distribution

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Statewide Report on Connectivity

• In addition to the BIIG process, K12HSN worked on the development of a Needs Assessment report in order to better understand gaps in broadband infrastructure in schools.

• A random sample of 500 schools sites was used to collect network infrastructure information.

• The list of schools and questions can be found at:• http://www.k12hsn.org/sb852/report.php

• 442 schools have returned the needs assessment survey and the data is being analyzed.

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Statewide Report on Connectivity

• A report was completed by the K12HSN, in consultation with the CDE and the SBE, and submitted on March 1, 2015 to the Department of Finance, the Legislative Analyst’s Office, and the budget committees of each house of the Legislature.• Report can be found here: http://www.k12hsn.org/files/reports/

2015_Report.pdf

• A supplemental report with the data analysis of the needs assessment information will be completed by April 17, 2015.

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Statewide Report on Connectivity

• The data collection process endured some challenges to include:• A short period of time available to collect the

information.• Type of information requested in the survey was hard to

obtain for some sites due to lack of expertise.• Some sites saw the survey as elective and hesitated to

respond due to other competing priorities.• Tracking of previous expenses in technology proved to

be challenging for several sites.

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Statewide Report on Connectivity

• The report provides the following:• Set context around broadband issues as they relate to

computer adaptive testing.• Describe the Needs Assessment methodology and the

process to obtain the data.• Describe the BIIG methodology and present preliminary

findings based on the information obtained from the 304 sites.

• Describe planned improvements for the sites receiving service as a result of the grant process.

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Statewide Report on Connectivity

• The supplemental report will:• Provide the data analysis obtained from the needs

assessment in order to address the state networking in schools and costs associated to improve broadband for testing.

• Offer short and long term recommendations to improve broadband infrastructure to schools.

• Provide a final list of the BIIG grant recipients to include several case studies on their improved broadband infrastructure.

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Future Opportunities• For the 15-16 budget, the Governor’s office has proposed

another round of funding ($100M) for Internet connectivity and infrastructure improvement.

• The series of reports will provide recommendations that support future funding opportunities.

• Some potential areas for this funding:• Continue closing gaps in “last mile”• Plan and/or develop “middle mile” projects in hard to serve

communities• Provide resources and support to schools with local infrastructure

(LAN, WLAN, etc.)• Provide technical assistance (best practices) with implementation

of local broadband infrastructure

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Role of CENIC

• Broadband Infrastructure Improvement Grant• Assist in the development of the BIIG process.• Serve as the purchasing agent on behalf of K12HSN in order to

leverage purchasing power and attract interest from service providers.• Serve as the applicant through the E-rate process to procure improved

connections to the identified schools sites.• Provide assistance during the implementation of the schools awarded.

• Statewide Needs Assessment Report• Identify consultants to assist in the writing of the Statewide Report.• Provide technical assistance in the development of survey instruments

and in the data analysis.• Provide guidance in the process of obtaining the random sample of

schools that participated in the survey.

QUESTIONS?