Madison schools: We’re not going offline

Madison School District said it is not affected by the Idaho Education Network issues faced by other districts in the state.

Idaho’s contract for broadband access for schools was ruled illegal earlier this year, and the Legislature is scrambling to keep nearly 200 public high schools online.

Meanwhile, Madison School District told patrons a decision it had made years ago is paying off.

“Not only did we not want to wait for the state to come up with am Internet plan for us, we had deep concerns about the (Idaho Department of Education) providing these types of services locally,” said Superintendent Geoff Thomas.

When Madison had the chance to get on board with the IEN, Thomas decided against it, according to a news release Thursday.

Head of Technology Cory Peterson said the district had concerns.

“When the IEN did come out, it was new and exciting to many area districts, but we decided against switching to it,” Peterson said. “We didn’t know how reliable it would be, and we didn’t want to put all of our eggs in their basket.”

“In this, as in almost every issue facing our schools, local control works,” said Thomas.