The Forsyth County school system will be one stop in a multi-organizational effort to improve broadband service in north Georgia.

County school board members voted Thursday to enter into a five-year rental agreement with the North Georgia Network Cooperative.

The agreement will allow the cooperative to use Sawnee Elementary School to place a facility to secure the low-cost broadband.  

In exchange for the use of land, the cooperative has agreed to reduce the cost of buying broadband services.

The goal, Robert Sewell said at the board's meeting, is to “stimulate economic growth by improving the broadband infrastructure in the North Georgia region.”

“Forsyth County Schools is excited to be a part of this network to improve our connectivity between our 34 schools and other support facilities,” said Sewell, who is the system's facilities director.

The network is an initiative by the economic development authorities of Dawson, Habersham, Lumpkin, Union and White counties, along with Blue Ridge Mountain EMC, Habersham EMC and North Georgia College & State University.

“We are thrilled about the possibilities [this] will allow for our students,” said Bailey Mitchell, chief technology and information officer for the school system. “Our instructional resources are increasingly Internet based, so having access to ultra-fast bandwidth is essential.”