News from the San Benito County Office of Education

In the 2015-2016 school year the state budgeted $50 million for network infrastructure improvement for schools and districts with the Broadband Infrastructure Improvement Grant (BIIG). Funds from the grant were assigned through a grant application process, and vendor bids to provide services funded by BIIG were reviewed by the K-12 High Speed Network, in consultation with the Department of Education and State Board of Education. Roy Sims, Director of Technology for the San Benito County Office of Education, felt that BIIG could provide an amazing opportunity to meet the needs of the school districts for the move to computerized standardized testing, and he submitted grant applications for every school site in the county that qualified for this one-time funding. As the bidding process began for vendors hoping to provide the needed improvements, Director Sims assisted vendors with understanding the unique topography and layout of the county. To Sims’ delighted surprise, each of the districts received bids over the following two years, which began to translate into successful systems deployments across the county.
In the summer of 2016, Mathew Safford joined Sims as the Coordinator of Technology, and with the continued support of County Superintendent Krystal Lomanto, this solid team was formed to accomplish the huge task of deploying these largely needed systems. The SBCOE technology team began overseeing and assisting with the configuration of vendor solutions to fit the sites’ myriad specific needs and their unique topographies. Trenches for fiber optic cables, the erection of microwave towers, electrical and low-voltage systems, as well as various hardware installations, are some of the ongoing and completed tasks.
Some of the major highlights of these projects include: a 10 GB redundant circuit installed at SBCOE which allows for districts with higher data demands to receive one GB connections while lower demand districts receive 100 MB connections. For the SBCOE this is 10 times the speed previously available and for some districts this has resulted in internet speeds up to 1,000 times faster. Also negotiated as part of the BIIG, is a next generation firewall that can handle a 10 GB passthrough as well as filter out illegitimate traffic and intrusions. Prior to these improvements, some school sites struggled to test one classroom at a time. Now an entire school can test simultaneously while all other required technology systems will continue to operate as intended.
Bronson Mendes-LoBue, the superintendent and principal at Tres Pinos Union Elementary said: “The BIIG grant has made a tremendous impact on Tres Pinos School in becoming technology literate. We have moved from internet that never was reliable to internet that is never down or interrupted. Staff can teach curriculum in a way that it becomes alive for the students on a daily basis. Students are
exposed to 21st century technology skills which increased our CAASPP scores within one year. We have been able to incorporate a student information system which allows teachers and office personnel immediate access to a wide scope of student information from demographics to discipline and grades. We at Tres Pinos School are grateful for this grant.”
The total cost of these projects falls between approximately $1 million and $1.5 million, with all costs covered by the BIIG. Included in that, specific site costs range from approximately $350,000 at Jefferson Elementary School District to $55,000 for Southside School District. Director Sims is quoted as saying “every student’s ability to be educated matters, regardless of where they live or what school they attend in our county. At the SBCOE we believe equity of access is at the core of our work. It does not matter if a school has 10 or 3,000 students, all children of this county deserve a chance to compete at the highest degree possible and we think we have taken these major steps to achieving this.”
The San Benito County Office of Education is excited to share this news and we are proud to serve our districts across the county.