Kentucky District Upgrades WiFi with Extreme Networks
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 03/18/21
The
largest school system in Kentucky has gone public with an upgrade of
its wireless network. The refresh at Jefferson
County Public Schools included WiFi
6 access points from Extreme
Networks, as well as that company's ExtremeCloud
IQ network management platform. The upgrade built off
of or replaced existing Extreme gear. The district has about 115,000
student and staff users in 169 schools and 165 buildings.
District
digital initiatives have included a 1-to-1 device program, to provide
students with iPads, Windows devices and Chromebooks, and a virtual
"Backpack
of Success Skills" platform for students, to
demonstrate learning and collect artifacts such as pictures and video
with Google tools. Assessments are done online. And the schools
3,000-plus IP-connected cameras with gunshot recognition capabilities
and electronic access control.
The
latest technology implementation included:
-
Nearly 8,400
Extreme WiFi 6 access points and Ethernet switches both inside and
outside of buildings and sent home with families;
-
ExtremeAnalytics
software to track usage of the Backpack program and other
applications and identify and address network connectivity and
performance issues more quickly; and
-
ExtremeCloud
IQ, for network visibility and monitoring.
"We
are working with a small IT group in an enormous district, and my
network team has to fill multiple roles. Without good support and
dependable infrastructure, all our resources become locked up in
network management," Annette Harris, assistant director of
infrastructure services at the district, in a press release. "With
Extreme, we're currently reporting 99 percent network uptime, and our
team likes every product we've deployed."
About the Author
Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.