NOVEMBER 2, 1999
Butte County Office of Education
Board Room
2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

District representatives attending:
Dr. Lee Funk, Chairman, and Dave Niemeyer; Biggs Unified; Midge Kenyon, Paradise Unified; Shirley Miller, Biggs Unified; Gina Merino, Golden Feather Union; Dr. Nancy Barnes, Gail Shirley, Jim Tyler and Patrick Wood, Palermo Union; Susan Jeffers and Jim Galloway, Oroville City Elementary; Vikki Gillett, Chico Unified; Susan Watts, Oroville Union High; Cliff Lantz, Pioneer Union; Rod Fivelstad, Manzanita; Trudee MacPhee, Bangor Union; Ruth Allen, Thermalito Union; Tim McClure, Allen Rader, and Marcia Griswold, Butte County Office of Education.

Absent: Representatives for Durham Unified, Feather Falls Union and Gridley Unified School Districts. 

Vikki Gillette called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m.

E-rate – Allen Rader announced that E-rate funding for Year 1 had no financial implication to districts although not all districts were funded. In Year 2, BCOE filed the Form 470 (Notice of Intent), and districts filed the Form 471 and 486 for services rendered. Schools and Libraries will honor the invoices for payment and the remaining net will be collected from districts. The procedure to file and collect funds during Year 3 is expected to be similar to Year 2 except that districts will also file Form 470 themselves. Oroville City Elementary is currently in appeal cycle for Year 2. Late spring may be the earliest time possible to file for compensation.

Russ Selken distributed a handout for timeframes showing estimated filing deadlines. In regards to ongoing costs, the concept is open to interpretation and may not be considered ongoing if an annual contract exists. He expects Schools and Libraries Division to acknowledge deciding factors within a few weeks.

At the next Business Advisory Group meeting on November 18, a representative from the State Dept. of General Services will discuss CMAS (Calif. Multiple Award Schedule) and its use with E-rate purchases. CMAS pricing typically represents substantial savings and may avoid an unwarranted bidding process.

Tim McClure questioned whether using E-rate was good for the districts. Russ Selken replied our Butte County school districts have realized nearly 1.5 million dollars in upgrades and services for their wide area networks and local area networks. This represents improved networks to classrooms with cutting edge, state of the art technology that many schools could not otherwise be accomplished due to financial restrictions.

Russ Selken encouraged districts to contact him to discuss their needs for growth-funding, liabilities, overhead and ongoing maintenance of switches, routers, bug fixes, Y2K fixes and troubleshooting.

UPGRADES ON WAN – Dennis Partington distributed a current map of the main BCOE wide area network without subordinate maps. Since the last meeting, the network map shows a completely different configuration. Over 40 T-1 lines were installed to schools all over the county. The results are more reliability and dependable speed. Quality of service is up, and the network traffic is easier to manage with built-in redundancy. ISDN lines used formally have remained in place at some sites and serve as back-ups. Several districts experienced complete re-cabling for their LANs as a result of the upgrades. Improved proxy services will allow users to find the Internet pages on the servers after the first visit, unless the page is upgraded, which will decrease the time spent on the WAN. Software to monitor and provide more proactive information, problem notifications and indications when networks reach the 80% threshold will be installed within 6 months.

Y2K STATUS – Dennis Partington noted our Cisco equipment is compliant. Gandalf is not compliant, but not fatal with available workarounds. BEN server used for e-mail is upgraded and problems are not anticipated. PG&E reported there are no expected problems with power to facilities, but Pacific Bell implemented many upgrades, but no guarantees. Dr. Funk asked whether Dennis’s time required on the WAN is being monitored. Russ Selken replied that ITS technicians do account for their time. Basic internet and e-mail services and network maintenance will continue to require a large portion of his time when T-1 lines and new network server installations are completed. Several districts are considering the implementation of video streaming in late spring which will also increase the workload for technician. Russ Selken recommended that districts always review the cost of ownership before implementing new technology. He invited districts to contact him to assist them with assessments and cost projections prior to commitment. BCOE will offer a Y2K systems workshop. Interested districts were asked to sign up after the meeting or contact ITS directly.

FILTERING – Dennis Partington reviewed information regarding Internet filters with representatives. BCOE does not filter and does not have a filtering policy. There is political pressure to use filtering as one criteria for E-rate funding. Filtering can go beyond pornography, to include online chat, video streaming viles, sports, etc. to control at appropriate use of resources as determined by the district’s board policy. Because this is a censorship issue and each district may set different guidelines, Dr. Funk stated, without consensus, filtering will not be a BEN Consortium issue. If several districts want to join together to use the same product for savings, it would be beneficial to the cost of ownership. Dave Niemeyer noted the importance of ongoing service and support filtering products require. He invited representatives to attend product demonstrations by four vendors at Biggs Unified on November 4. Russ Selken also urged standardization and the selection of one product for BCOE staff to maintain. Midge Kenyon reported Paradise is using a filter She noted if a school district is sharing facilities with a public library, the public resources cannot be filtered, but school resources can be filtered. IP addresses can be used filter and set different filtering criteria as requested, i.e., therefore, the high school science lab, the principal, the first graders and the library on the same campus can all have different settings for filtering. ThermalitoUnion and Palermo Union representatives also indicated interest in the purchase of filtering products.

WAN Procedures Manual – Representatives received new copies of the manual. Russ Selken requested the District/Site Contacts list (located at back of manual) be completed and returned to the ITS Department as soon as possible. To direct a work order for his attention, please ask the Help Desk to escalate to Russ for his immediate review. If a Category 1 on the Service Matrix, he will respond within one hour; otherwise within 48 hours. With the hiring of new staff, the Help Desk will soon have a PC technician also available answering phones during regular office hours.

Respectfully submitted by,
Marcia Griswold
Senior Secretary
Butte County Office of Education