I am assuming from your response that you wish to use amateur radio as a teaching tool. What detail are you looking for? Hardware choices? Code? 
The radio is more of the means than the ends. What I want to do is get the information from the weather station to the classroom. I was simply trying to give amateur radio a fair hearing.
I think the best way, considering network policies, is to use a hobby band instead.
The way it looks is that I will keep sending in for a particular science grant and go with commercial gear. I only missed the grant this year because I missed the deadline.
The trouble with a "Maker" solution is that I have to be able to guarantee that it will work as specified with no tinkering. I also will not be permitted to install it. The installation will be done by the maintenance department. The result of that is that there is no working out an optimal position. It will go where maintenance wants to put it. All of this makes a "maker" solution a poor choice.
A bit of a shame, I wanted to involve the students a bit more; but that won't work. The unit I am now looking at uses a hobby band and allows multiple heads. Multiple heads will allow a head to be in the science classrooms and in my classroom. It is a better fit; there is just less "learning."