School district gets dozens of computers donated by Embarq

WELLSVILLE — Wellsville’s school district has received 24 desktop computers and 20 laptop computers from Embarq, with the schools to receive 40 more laptops.

The Wellsville school district is one of the first institutions in the nation to receive the computers, in which telephone and communications company Embarq donates used but refurbished computers to public institutions, Randall Renoud, Wellsville elementary principal, said.

“They may be used but they look new,” Renoud said. “... They’re really nice.”

The computers will be used to create new computer labs and are provided to students for hands-on use during classes, he said.

The donation will be a major boost to the school system, which has about 300 computers, Ryan Dalton, school technology director, said.

Although they’re used, the computers represent an improvement in terms of power and capability, he said.

“Given our budget, it would have taken us three years to purchase this many computers,” Dalton said.

Although a few older computers will be replaced, most of the Embarq computers will be used to expand the computer network in the elementary, middle and high schools, he said.

Instead of teachers having to juggle times or students waiting in line to use computers, they’ll be able to use them at the same time, he said.

Embarq employees, many of them Wellsville school parents or former students, always have helped the schools by volunteering to read to students or cleaning up, Renoud said.

“Embarq has really tried to help our community and schools,” he said.

“We thought it was a good opportunity for us to help the communities we serve,” Roman Blashoski, a company spokesman, said of the computer donation program.

Many of the communities are smaller and don’t have large industries or businesses that donate money or equipment so Embarq has tried to fill the void, he said.

How many computers the company gives away each year will depend on the number due to be retired and the number of requests, he said.

Renoud said he heard about the new computer donation program from David Dwyer, one of Renoud’s former students who works for Embarq and who heard about the program when it was created.

“He let us know all about it,” Renoud said.