Osakis School Board approves internet, network services agreements – Alexandria Echo Press
OSAKIS — The Osakis School Board approved both an internet agreement and a network services agreement with the Eastern Central Minnesota Educational Cable Cooperative.
The approvals were made at the board’s regular meeting, which took place Monday, March 11.
The district currently uses the Central Minnesota Educational Telecom Service, or CMETS, for internet and some network service support, but CMETS is dissolving.
The internet agreement with ECMECC is estimated at $4,502, while the network services agreement is estimated at $8,105.
Marc Johnson, executive director of ECMECC, said some areas of focus that were part of CMETS are also a part of ECMECC. One of these is the Central Minnesota Wide Area Network, an internet services program.
“It’s existed for 20 years,” Johnson said via Skype. “ECMECC has always participated in it, but we haven’t always been the manager of that service. We are now the manager of that service, and it serves over 60 school districts and 46 library sites through a large swathe of central Minnesota.”
Johnson explained, “It fully qualifies any of the districts for state telecommunications equity aid, which you received because you were part of CMETS before. The only way to get that aid is to