Board approves Twin Lakes for internet access, recommends Twin Lakes for fiber

The Clay County Board of Education voted Dec. 12, 2024, to award the district’s internet-access contract to Twin Lakes and to proceed with the consultant-recommended approach for fiber service, favoring Twin Lakes based on historical performance and consultant analysis.

District staff presented the results of an E-Rate consultant’s scoring, noting three bidders responded for internet access—Twin Lakes, UDT and Zio (the vendor that has previously provided service through an entity formerly known as ENA). Staff said the consultant’s scoring places the most weight on cost and that opening the contract to competition presented an opportunity to save money. The new internet access agreement would begin July 1.

"I feel comfortable giving the lowest bidder a chance on this," said Mister Derrick, the staff member who presented the packet, recommending Twin Lakes. On the fiber question, staff said the consultant recommended comparing lit and dark fiber; historically dark fiber has been the cheaper option, and Twin Lakes’ service history included rapid on-site response to outages. "We’ve had amazing service from them," staff said, "If it gets damaged within just a few minutes to an hour, someone’s on-site working on it." The board approved motions to accept staff recommendations for internet access and fiber provider selection.

The actions advance procurement steps under E-Rate rules and set a July 1 start date for the new internet-access contract.