In June, Glide Elementary School became the last school of the Rural Schools Fiber Project to become connected to a fiber-optic network, connecting the rural school districts of Yoncalla, Camas Valley, Elkton, Oakland, Drain, Glide, Winston and outlying Roseburg schools.
The idea for the project came out of a Whipple Foundation Fund-sponsored educational summit held in 2006. Attendees identified the lack of a cohesive communications network as a serious concern for the area’s school districts. While students in central Douglas County near Interstate 5 were able to log on to the Internet via a high-speed fiber optic network, students living in rural Douglas County were dependent on systems that did not “talk” to each other.
A $160,000 grant from the Whipple Foundation Fund of OCF got the project started and helped catalyze the other donations necessary for completion. Other funders include the Ford Family Foundation, Umpqua Community College, the Cow Creek Foundation, the Mercy Foundation and the Douglas Community and Crane Creek Funds of The Oregon Community Foundation.
Funds contributed by these foundations, with the eight participating school districts adding $2,500 each, made the project eligible for a Federal Communications Commission e-rate discount of nearly $2 million. The Douglas Education Service District worked with the local districts in completing the e-rate applications. Overall cost of the project was just over $2.5 million. The Douglas Education Service District worked with the local districts in completing the e-rate applications. Overall cost of the project was just over $2.5 million.
Working as ESD’s underlying service provider, Douglas Fast Net (DFN) placed 67.5 miles of new fiber and lit 46.5 miles of leased fiber, fulfilling the project’s goal. The ESD is now the direct service provider for the schools for the fiber as well as for internet access.
“This was a huge undertaking for DFN, but we are proud to report that we were successful in delivering to all of the schools identified at the beginning of the project,” said Todd Way, DFN.
Asthika Welikala, director of technology for the ESD, said “at the outset, it was hard to imagine such a project was even possible, but with so many willing partners and such a high level of cooperation, things like this can happen.” The project brought advanced telecommunication services to 18 schools.
The Whipple Foundation Fund was established in 2003 by Mildred Whipple to improve, facilitate and enhance lifelong learning for the citizens of Douglas County. More than $1.5 million in grants have been awarded by the fund since 2003. Mildred and her husband Jim were long-time residents of Drain. Mildred passed away in 2006 at age 95 and was described by the News-Review as “one of Douglas County’s most generous philanthropists.”