Pat Furr couldn’t just throw away the IBM 8086 when it was time to replace it. The computer had cost $8,000 including extra memory, two printers and software.
“I had the idea to fix it up and to give it to a classroom or teacher,” Founder of Computers for Classrooms Pat Furr said.
Located on the outskirts of Chico, Computers for Classrooms’ employees and volunteers work hard to make donated computer systems work like new.
Most of the technology labs in local schools are equipped with used computers that have been refurbished by Computers for Classrooms.
In 1991, Furr pitched the idea of a volunteer-based program to provide the Chico Unified School District with an option for lower-priced computers.
When Furr approached the district with her idea, there was little to no funding for technology equipment. The money schools had on equipment only came from grants, so the district seized the opportunity to buy computers at a lower cost, said John Vincent, director of technology at the school district.
“When buying a new machine, we are now looking at over $1,000 per unit,” Vincent said.
He said approximately 90 percent of the computers in Chico schools come from Computers for Classrooms, and if they didn’t have that company to depend on they would have fewer machines in classrooms for student use.
According to Furr there are presently over 6,000 computers in use through Chico Unified School District that have been refurbished by her company.
Recycling vs. Reusing
Out of 3.14 million tons of electronic waste generated in the U.S. in 2013, 1.87 million tons went into landfills and incinerators, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Vincent said that although funding was the main reason the school district began working with Computers for Classrooms, the second reason was to find a way to recycle the school’s old units more efficiently.
“All of the school district’s old machines go back to Computers for Classrooms where they are either repurposed again or they are properly recycled instead of ending up in a dump or a landfill,” Vincent said.
Computers for Classrooms is R2 Certified, a classification recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency as responsible practices for businesses that recycle electronics. None of the materials will end up in a landfill, be incinerated or shipped illegally to other countries. According to its website Computers for Classrooms continues to check materials until there is no other use for them.
“We support the environment by keeping all electronics out of the landfill,” Furr said.
"We always make sure that every part gets used,"
- Ozzie Serrano, current CEO and program manager of Computers for Classrooms
Helping others
Although Computers for Classrooms started as a small company, only serving the local community, it has grown into one of the top three Microsoft Registered Refurbishers.
This company helps schools all over California by placing over 5,000 systems per year and has handed out tens of thousands of working computer systems since the program began in 1991, according to its website.
Besides supplying schools with desktops and laptops, Computers for Classrooms also sells them at low prices to senior citizens and people from low income families.
“Pat started this company because there was a separation between people who could afford a computer and those who couldn’t. She wanted to stop the digital divide and help further education for all,” Ozzie Serrano, current CEO and program manager of Computers for Classrooms said.
He said Computer for Classrooms tries to make it easy for everyone to have access to computers.
They sell the desktops and laptops to families who qualify for at least one of the 12 requirements:
• Medi-Cal
• The Healthy Families Program
• EBT Food Stamp Card
• Section 8 Housing
• Have a child in school receiving free or reduced price lunch
• An AT&T lifeline – phone bill or a PG&E Star program – reduced utility fees
• Energy Assistance Program Rate
• Butte Community College student
• Fire victim with Red Cross assistance letter
• Veteran with Veteran’s Administration card
• Social Security Disability
• Seniors aged 65 or older
Volunteers can earn a free desktop computer or laptop after completing 50 hours of work. The volunteers don’t need any experience to work at the facility. Everything they need to know about fixing a unit or properly recycling the parts are taught to them.
Technology in classrooms
Computers for Classrooms donated computers to a study done by UC Santa Cruz. The study gave free computers to randomly assigned financial aid students at Butte Community College, and it analyzed the effect that owning a personal computer had on grades and computer skills over the course of two years.
Vincent said technology is an important tool for education.
“I can only imagine what it’s like being a student today in a class where there is no technology,” Vincent said. “Just sitting at a table staring at a whiteboard would be mind-numbing so to have technology available to make the class interesting is critical.”
