Cape schools add speed to burdened computer networks

Numerous technology problems in the Cape Girardeau School District should disappear over the next six months with the installation of a new network system.

The Cape Girardeau School Board approved a bid from Charter Communications in a special meeting Wednesday night for a fiber-based, wide-area network system, also called a WAN system.

The district currently has a high-speed telephone line connecting each of its 10 schools. The line handles everything from the attendance counts and e-mail to the lunch payment system and online curriculum.

"It's basically the lifeline to our schools," said Brian Hall, technology coordinator for the district. "But right now it's so saturated we can't put any more data across it."

The new network, Hall said, is basically like getting a larger pipe so more information can flow through. Such a system costs $8,000 to install, but Hall said the district will only pay 31 percent of that with a discount through the Universal Service Fund.

The fund, which is operated through the Federal Communications Commission, uses a tax from telephone bills to help fund projects for public schools and libraries. According to Hall, the district's cost will be offset by the reduction in servers needed for communications.

Overall, school officials estimate that the project will cost an additional $1,500 to $4,500 a year, some of which will be absorbed by federal subsidies.

Problems with the old system are widespread, Hall said. The program that allows the district's maintenance department to monitor the heating and air conditioning systems in schools often crashes because of the overburdened line. During certain times of the day, computers throughout the district operate very slowly.

One of the biggest benefits of the new system will take place in the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center's distance learning center.

According to CTC director Rich Payne, the interactive television, or ITV, in the learning center cannot be fully utilized because there isn't enough space on the current networking system.

"When we do use the ITV, it's not clear and it's very slow," Payne said. "It's not as efficient as it could be, but I think the new system will fix that."

With the ITV in full working order, the CTC will be able to offer satellite classes from colleges such as Mineral Area Community College in Farmington, Mo.

cclark@semissourian.com

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