Students in Carroll County schools will benefit from a recent donation from Tanner Health System of 62 surplus computers — a mix of desktops and laptops — valued at approximately $9,500. While these computers now fall outside the performance level Tanner requires for use, according to Mitch Hodges, director of IT infrastructure for Tanner Health System, they had plenty of “life” left in them for the school system.
“Carroll County Schools is grateful for our tremendous ongoing partnership with Tanner Health System,” said Joshua Bingham, chief technology officer for Carroll County Schools. “With some minor upgrades, these computers will be used to increase student learning opportunities for years to come.”
According to Hodges, the project began as a conversation between Amy Morris, a Tanner IT staff member, and her husband Brandon Morris, a Carroll County Schools IT employee. Brandon asked his wife if she knew what Tanner did with older computer equipment as it was replaced by newer equipment. In the past, Tanner’s older equipment was fully depreciated and recycled.
“While it takes more effort on our part to donate the computers rather than recycle them, the choice was very clear,” said Carol Crews, chief financial officer for Tanner Health System. “We realize our children are our future, and it is important that the community provides support for our schools whenever we can.”
Once the idea of the donation made its way to Hodges and Bingham, the two worked to verify that the equipment was usable by the school system, then both sought out and received buy-in from their respective managers and finance departments.
“We assigned a value to each of the 63 units being donated based on its surplus value. That’s approximately $9,500,” said Hodges. “We’re really excited that this equipment will help provide a valuable resource to the school system.”
Tanner’s IT department provided the computers without media of any sort, removing the encrypted hard drives which will be physically destroyed to prevent any accidental release of the data. With Carroll County Schools, the hardware will enjoy a second life of sorts, helping area children further their educational pursuits.
To learn more about Tanner Health System, visit www.tanner.org. To learn more about Carroll County Schools, visit www.carrollcountyschools.com.
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