After schools set their sights on a program designed to aid in their ability to educate students through technology, districts all across the state may now have to look elsewhere. GovNET, the key player in an exciting new program, is now under investigation as concerns are raised regarding their spending of more than $39 million of federal grant money.
Utilizing technology to better prepare Arizona children for the future is one of the core ideas behind an initiative that was intended to bring a higher level of education to Arizona schools. What began as a collaborative endeavor between counties and school districts has now become something of an unfinished project.
Through the use of over $39 million in grant money from the United States government, a company called GovNET has worked with all Arizona counties to create a communications and data infrastructure that will allow various entities to work better together. The state-of-the-art five ring microwave and fiber network would provide 100-300 Mbps broadband service to 130 mostly rural markets and at least 266 public safety and community anchor institutions. The entire project would cover 88,000 square miles.
SACCnet, or the State of Arizona Counties Communication network, is comprised of members from all over the state. Through this program, it was initially proposed that GovNET would bring in an infrastructure capable of delivering a higher span of bandwidth that it would sell at a competitive rate. This would first go to the education sector, and then the remaining unused portions will be made available for sale to entities such as libraries and medical facilities. This infrastructure would be built on top of the existing emergency communications system that is already in place and would add to the communications ability that the state currently utilizes.
This in turn is an exciting move for the intranet potentials that schools have with each other. Much of the promotion of the program has centered on the idea of having interconnected school systems that could work together and create virtual classrooms. This would mean that a classroom at a campus in one county would have the potential to be made up of teachers and students from any number of different locations. This could be a huge benefit for areas that are limited on funding, resources and enrollment for specialized classes.
On the other side, many school districts are interested in the program because of the savings that the higher bandwidth, lower cost Internet GovNET would be offering. With some being promoted at just $45 mg, this could greatly reduce monthly spending costs when it comes to communication and Internet. It could also enable rural areas to have availability to services that were not a possibility before.
Robert Kelty, Coconino County superintendent of schools, indicated that his district was very excited about the program.
“The Internet is the most appealing to us, we have no towers at this time and we have had multiple public meetings about the project. We are really excited about the idea of increasing our bandwidth.” He went on to explain that the site leases have been all signed and things were set to begin this summer; however, things are now looking like they may extend into Spring of 2013, if not later. This is all due to GovNET being halted by a federal audit.
Karen McCoy, vice president of real estate and government affairs for GovNET, would not comment on the nature of the audit, but she did indicate that there is not any current activity in Northern Arizona. “The network is currently not active in Northern Arizona,” she stated, “so there is no direct impact [on the Northern Arizona market] yet.”
Tim Carter, Yavapai County superintendent, also indicated that the program was a great idea. “We were actively engaged with GovNET until they were told to stand down,” he said. Despite the setback, Carter stressed that they are committed to the idea and are working on their own to create something equally beneficial. “Now we are in the process of developing our own system through the Yavapai County Educational Technology Consortium. It is my understanding that GovNET is currently under federal audit and as such, the program has been largely frozen. There are no active SEDnet [State Education Network] partners at this time. I know that for a fact…as [I am] one of the two facilitators for the SEDnet Board.”
Arlene Simpson Porter, director for NOAA Grants Management for the United States Department of Commerce, sent notice to Patrick Barringer, president, CEO and owner of GovNET, issuing a suspension to the over $39 million award that GovNET was given. This suspension began on May 22, 2012. The notice indicated that the NOAA Grants Office received information “from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration that GovNET was not in compliance with the terms and conditions of the award. They are required to maintain a financial management system that ensures effective control over and accountability for all funds, and they are to ensure that those funds are used solely for authorized purposes. GovNET must maintain and follow written procedures for determining the reasonableness, allocability, and allowability of costs.” After a preliminary review of GovNET’s reimbursement requests, Porter indicated that there were “questions raised about the allowability of certain expenditures, including transactions that may involve conflict of interest, potentially unreasonable travel expenses, and significant costs that do not appear to be covered by GovNET’s approved budget.”
In an effort to protect taxpayer investment, NOAA and NTIA have found it necessary to stop work and payments on the project. For the time being, this has also put a stop to the dream of the SACCnet project. However, there are school districts like Yavapai that are taking initiative and doing what they need to in order to give their students the best tools that technology can provide. FBN