Case Study: Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District achieves secure, scalable BYOD network for 113,000 students with Fortinet

Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District - Customer Case Study

Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District (Texas) serves 113,000 students across 87 schools and needed an enterprise-grade network to support a pervasive BYOD environment. Backed by a $1.2 billion bond (with $217 million for technology), the district required scalable throughput, multiple firewalls, content filtering, and protection against malware and data leakage to support increasing device counts through 2020.

The district implemented Fortinet’s FortiGate platform, deploying eleven firewalls, a separate BYOD data center, neighborhood-wide Wi‑Fi, branded captive portals, device integrity checks, and centralized policy controls to enforce COPPA/CIPA requirements. The solution increased network capacity without adding IT staff, improved operational efficiency, separated BYOD from mission-critical traffic, and provided scalable, centrally administered security for thousands of student devices.

Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District

Frankie Jackson

CTO