In conjunction with the work to form and leverage a USF consortium, the Educational Technology Association (ETA) has leveraged resources and grant opportunities to work with partner districts and private-sector partners to establish means to interconnect area schools.  The result is the ETA Wide Area Network (Baldwin and MCC links are currently inactive).  This network affords schools high-speed fiber connections to essential student management, learning management and financial systems that the ETA provides support for and hosts. This network has also empowered our USF consortium to pool resources and increase buying power to increase connectivity and reduce costs for local schools.  The map below, from the Technology Readiness Infrastructure Grant (TRIG), Michigan State Education Network (SEN) project, provides a high level view of the connections to and among area schools.  Currently we are in discussions with neighboring ISDs to further expand our network, increase our purchasing leverage and expand our ability to provide high-level technical support to partner districts.