School district is up to speed for internet
By Terry Murry on Tuesday, August 1st, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
UKIAH – After five years of hard work, the Ukiah School District broadband fiber construction project has been completed. Students from kindergarten through 12th grade will enjoy fast and reliable internet service after years of relying on a hotspot connection that has not been able to support student and teacher access to online educational resources.
The broadband project, completed by the nonprofit Inland Development Corporation, entailed laying 50 miles of fiber optic cable underground from Pendleton to Ukiah. IDC said that the terrain and weather made construction difficult. The work included rock drilling, conduit plowing, trenching, and miles of rock hammering.
The InterMountain Education Service District said the Oregon Department of Transportation office in Pendleton played a critical role in the permitting process. Most of the work had to be done within ODOT’s right of way.
When school begins students will experience internet speeds 40 times faster than the old connection. The fiber provides the capacity to scale beyond 400 times faster in the future.
“Bringing high-speed internet into rural areas of Oregon like Ukiah will widen horizons for staff and students alike, empowering them with all the benefits and learning opportunities that come with this technology,” Inland Board of Directors President Jill Parker said.
IMESD partnered with the district in 2018 and was successful in securing the $7.4 million in funding by 2021. Ninety percent of the construction was funded through a federal internet access affordability program and 10 percent came from the state through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund.
“This means that the construction cost to Ukiah School District was zero,” IMESD Chief Technology Officer Nick Lapp said. “Getting fiber to Ukiah seemed like an impossible feat and took many years to come to fruition and completion. I’m pleased to see years of hard work and dedication by our team at IMESD pay off.”
Ukiah School Superintendent Laura Orr said the community will benefit as well as residents depend on the school’s library.
“This level of connectivity will be incredibly impactful to not only our staff and students but also to our greater community,” she said. “We are all very excited for the coming year and what this project will allow us to grow into.”
