DIGITAL FRONTIER
How Garland ISD implemented a private cellular network infrastructure pilot program to ensure the success of all students during remote learning by Matt Yeager
L
ike school districts across the country, Garland ISD faced a significant challenge in ensuring equitable access to remote instruction for their 37,000 economically disadvantaged students — about 68% of the district’s total enrollment — during the COVID-19 pandemic. After providing all students with 1:1 devices at the beginning of the school year, the district ascertained that approximately 13,000 of their students were without reliable high-speed internet service at home. Due to the ongoing need for student connectivity at home and to bridge this digital gap, earlier this year GISD’s board of trustees approved the implementation of a private cellular network infrastructure pilot program. This pilot program will service the two areas in which the district’s most economically disadvantaged families reside, as indicated by the district’s connectivity heat map. The goal of the pilot program is to provide and evaluate private cellular network connectivity at home to ensure access to online instructional resources and information 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year — not just during school hours. Using the Band 48 Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) authorized by the FCC for private cellular service, the pilot will begin with 200 end
users per site to test signal strength and connectivity speeds at various points up to 1.8 miles away from the cell tower. Why a private cellular network? •
High-speed connections up to 100 Mbps with unlimited data
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GISD-owned and managed towers, network infrastructure and cellular service
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GISD-owned and managed hotspot devices convert cellular signal from the towers to Wi-Fi for district device connectivity
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Extension of the current GISD network infrastructure. Provides access to district network resources and internet, as well as content and internet filtering, in a setting similar to connecting to GISD Wi-Fi at school
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A private cellular network’s total cost of ownership is less than the ongoing monthly service fees charged by hotspot providers over five years.
After the initial phase of the pilot program, GISD will evaluate the efficacy of the initiative with the hope of expanding the service to ensure that no matter what challenge the district faces in the future, all students will have the opportunity to access the critical learning resources they need to succeed in today’s changing world.
The goal of the pilot program is to provide and evaluate private cellular network connectivity at home to ensure access to online instructional resources and information 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year — not just during school hours.
MATT YEAGER is executive technology officer in Garland ISD and a Texas K-12 CTO Council Member.
Texas School Business MAY / JUNE 2021
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