High-speed computer networks may be available to most area school districts by fall.

All but two Tazewell County school districts and Mason County's Midwest Central Unit 191 have each committed from $70,000 to $600,000 -- depending on poverty levels and the number of students who will be use the system, to installing more than 120 miles of fiber optic lines connecting each district and extending to Illinois Central College and the Illinois State Board of Education office in Peoria.

The venture, known as the Central Illinois Valley Intranet Consortium or CIVICNet, is expected to provide shared high-speed Internet access for much less than it would cost if districts pursued such connections independently. It will also allow communication links so students can take advanced classes in cooperation with Illinois Central College.

"Seventeen Tazewell County school districts and Midwest Central have committed funds to build a high speed voice, video and data network for the schools of Tazewell County," District 108 Director of Finance Guy Cahill said Friday. "And the ICC board voted yesterday to take part in the project ... for distance learning and components of CIVICNet."

The fiber-optic lines "will be linked to the state board office in Peoria in exchange for free Internet access for all of the participating districts," Cahill said.

"That is what sold the project because the project will be paid for with operating funds now being used to pay for Internet access. There will be no added outlay for the districts."

Cahill said districts already pay high fees for Internet access. This project will end those fees and the fiber-optic cable will be paid for within 10 years.

To be banded together like this, he said, would command a cost of $25 million every 10 years, but doing it as a group and using the state board's offer for free Internet access, it will cost only $3 million over two years.

"What this does is take the Global Connection 2000 program and make it available for the rest of the districts in Tazewell County," Cahill said, referring to the high-speed network Pekin Public Schools developed in partnership with area businesses and organizations. "More importantly, we will gain access to a 45-(megabit per second) Internet connection provided by the state board for free."

Cahill said ICC's commitment to the project means districts can give students advanced classes they couldn't otherwise afford. He said many districts have a handful of students needing such courses, but not enough to justify hiring another teacher. However, with the distance learning system, schools could group together and let their students take the course using telecommunication and share the cost.

Cahill said the bidding process will start soon and declined to comment about the amount committed by ICC and others until that process is complete.

Only two Tazewell County districts have opted not to participate in the project -- Washington District 52 and Spring Lake District 606.

Cahill said costs may have prohibited those two districts from participating. Spring Lake is on the state's financial aid watch list. District 137 Superintendent William Reising, who also serves as superintendent of District 606, couldn't be reached for comment. Washington District 52 Superintendent Patrick Grisham also was unavailable for comment.