School Receives $89,000 in vouchers for new technology

Many new computers have been installed around campus this year, the majority of which resulted from the product allotment given to our district from Microsoft. Between 2003 and 2005, the state of California filed an antitrust against Microsoft for “pursuing monopolistic practices.”

The company decided that it would be cheaper to reach a settlement instead of going to court. Businesses and individuals who wished to file a claim would receive some reimbursement from a pool of roughly $1.1 billion.

Public schools were eligible for the additional funding if at least 40 percent of students qualified for free and reduced meals through the National School Lunch Program.

Although the school did not qualify for the reimbursement, Crittenden Middle School did and was able to secure a portion of money for the feeder district.

The school was allotted approximately $89,000 in vouchers, half of which could be used for general purpose and half for software. The half used for general purposes could be applied to a selection of hardware or other products, and the school spent roughly $32,000 on new computers.

Although beneficial, Principal Wynne Satterwhite said that she thought the funding would have been able to replace a larger amount of computers. Also, the 50 percent given for software is also not very helpful.

“[Software] has to go through very specific checkpoints,” Satterwhite said. “It has to be a Microsoft-[approved] product and meet certain specifications.”