School District Seeks Phishing-Resistant Multi-Factor Authentication Solution

Upper Lake Unified School District is seeking a phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication (MFA) solution to enhance the security of staff accounts and access to district-managed systems.

The requested solution must support industry-standard phishing-resistant authentication methods, such as FIDO2, WebAuthn, or equivalent protocols that provide strong cryptographic assurance and mitigate risks associated with credential theft, man-in-the-middle attacks, and social engineering. The MFA solution will be deployed to approximately 150 staff members across four school campuses and administrative offices.

It must integrate with common identity providers and directory services, including but not limited to Microsoft Entra ID (Azure AD) and Google Workspace, or their equivalents. The system should provide granular, contextual policy enforcement based on user, group, application, device health, and network location, to support a zero-trust security model.

It should also provide detailed logging, reporting, and security health insights for end-user devices. The solution must support a wide range of authentication methods, including push notifications, biometric verification, and hardware authenticators. It must be user-friendly to ensure a high adoption rate. Licensing should be a three-year subscription term with technical support and administrative training.

Solutions that include hardware authenticators (e.g., security keys) should specify any included quantities and support options. Cloud-based solutions are preferred, but hybrid options will also be considered. This MFA system will be used to protect access to district systems, sensitive student/staff data, email accounts, and cloud services.

The awarded vendor must ensure that proposed services are compatible with the district’s existing infrastructure and assist with implementation and initial user onboarding. The selected solution must comply with applicable federal and state data protection laws, including FERPA and CIPA, and be scalable to support future growth. Agency: Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) Status: Certified