A judge in Boise has voided a $60 million statewide contract to provide broadband in public schools after finding the Idaho Department of Administration violated the state's procurement law.

Camille Wells, spokeswoman for the Idaho Education Network in Boise, told The Press Tuesday it's uncertain how this will affect school districts.

She said the IEN is working with state officials to find a way to continue serving bandwidth to Idaho schools.

The Idaho Education Network provides high-speed bandwidth and video-conferencing capability to Idaho's public high schools.

"I'm definitely keeping an eye on it, but currently only our high schools are on this connection, and the rest of our schools have a separate connection that we can move the high schools to on short notice if needed," said Seth Deniston, Coeur d'Alene School District's technology director, in a message to The Press.

There are 219 high schools connected to the network, which serves 87,000 students.

Tom Taggart, director of business and operations in the Lakeland School District, said his district uses bandwidth from IEN to augment bandwidth provided by Time Warner.

Taggart told The Press he doubts the impact on Lakeland students would be significant if the network's bandwidth was no longer available.

"I would, however, be very surprised if the IEN was not funded once the dust clears. Many Idaho districts rely on the IEN for both bandwidth and the ability to receive instruction," Taggart said in a message to The Press. "The most obvious potential impact will be on next year's budget. It appears likely this decision will be costly to resolve, and money put into correcting this will lessen what is available for other programs."

The ruling by 4th District Judge Patrick Owen means the state may have to repay the federal government for money it received to help pay for the flawed IEN contract. Owen found that steps the state took to try to fix the improperly awarded contract were futile because an illegal contract can't be fixed.

A consortium of Idaho telephone companies called Syringa Networks sued the state in 2009, claiming the Department of Administration illegally handed Qwest the $60 million contract to install the broadband infrastructure for the Idaho Education Network, a project to link public schools, universities and businesses in Idaho. The Idaho Supreme Court ruled in March 2013 that the contract was handled improperly, but the case continued to move through the court system while other details of the contract were litigated.

"Even after the Supreme Court decision, and despite further rulings from this Court rejecting the DOA's (Department of Administration's) post-appeal arguments, DOA continues to fund these contracts. DOA even tries to fix what cannot be fixed," Owen wrote in the ruling.

The Federal Communication Commission originally helped pay for part of the $60 million contract through a federal program designed to help expand broadband access nationwide. The federal funds were expected to cover three-quarters of the state's costs for the contract, but last year the FCC put a hold on any further payments, apparently concerned that the contract would be found illegal in the courts. That forced the Legislature to cover the gap in funding, with lawmakers appropriating an additional $4.8 million earlier this year to keep the program operational.

Owen's ruling could mean that the state must pay back the FCC the roughly $15 million it has already received for the contract. And it's not immediately clear if any of the money paid to IEN and Qwest may be recovered or what will happen to the broadband program now that the 20-year contract is void.

In a prepared statement released Wednesday, Idaho Gov. Butch Otter wrote that the ruling doesn't detract from the value of the Idaho Education Network.

"I support the IEN and recognize the significance of this service for all of Idaho, especially our rural communities. I call upon all of the parties and stakeholders to commit to preserving this valuable service and unprecedented access to technology for Idaho's students, teachers and communities while we work through the process," Otter wrote.

"I still believe there is support for statewide broadband system," House Speaker Scott Bedke said in a telephone interview while on the North Idaho Legislative Tour. "The Legislature was not involved in the contract, so I won't comment on that. ... But we will shoulder our responsibilities to get this behind us."

Bedke said he was still unsure how this might affect funding requests as the 2015 Idaho legislative session approaches. Depending how much the state has to pay back, it's unknown at this time how much will be available for other education programs, such as the proposed teacher-certification plan that determines teacher pay, estimated to cost nearly $200 million.

"None of us have a definite answer right now," he said.