Bloomington/Normal Schools on StarCom21

[jcook11]

Heard a story on the local news tonight that McLean Co. School District #5 paid ~$270k to be on Starcom21 for day-to-day and emergency communications. I assume for that large of a price, they are installing BDAs in some of the school buildings for improved coverage. Not much online about it, other than this article, which states it's a 2 year contract:

Unit 5 taxpayers to see higher property tax hike

First time I've heard of a school moving to the system.

 

[jcook11]

Found this after I posted. BDAs were not part of the price at all. They just need a lot of radios...

https://v3.boardbook.org/Public/PublicItemDownload.aspx?ik=33212600

 

[gewecke]

Wow. I noticed that unit 5 never even discussed other options for less money, like a LTR system which would be far cheaper in the long run without the bleeding user fees! :roll:

Oh well, I'm glad my kids are grown and not in this area.

73,
n9zas

 

[jcook11]

Wow. I noticed that unit 5 never even discussed other options for less money, like a LTR system which would be far cheaper in the long run without the bleeding user fees! :roll:

Oh well, I'm glad my kids are grown and not in this area.

73,
n9zas

Well, the primary purpose was for interoperability with the surrounding agencies...which all use SC21. So, they didn't have many options probably.