Greene County Schools System (GCSS) appreciates offers to donate used computer equipment. The following guidelines apply to acceptance of donated equipment.

All equipment accepted by GCSS should be in good working order. If the equipment is not in good working order, the accepting school assumes responsibility for the costs of putting the equipment in good working order.

Comment: Often a donor wishes to dispose of equipment that is not in working order. They may have the belief that giving it to GCSS is a positive way to dispose of it and that the district can make use of it. Unfortunately, there are often significant costs the district would incur to return the equipment to working order. For this reason, it is generally advisable to decline equipment that is not in initial good working order. The Central Office staff or school TSPs will be able to assist district personnel in determining whether a potential donation is in good working order.
 

Whenever possible, accept only equipment that is supported by GCSS, as defined in the hardware and networking sections of the District Technology Plan document. Equipment that is fully supported is defined as Level I and can be serviced and repaired by the district. If the equipment is fully supported by GCSS and is in good working order when received, then the district will maintain the equipment just as if it had been originally purchased by the district. If the equipment is not a supported item, the school or department that accepts the donation assumes responsibility for costs of keeping the equipment in good working order.

Comment: Costs for repairing a piece of equipment that the district does not service can be substantial. Replacement of a computer motherboard or hard disk drive, for example, could cost more than the actual value of the equipment itself. In some cases, donated equipment can be viewed as "disposable," with the intent to use it until it ceases to function, and then dispose of it. In such cases, it is good practice to make the donor aware of the intent and to ask the donor if they have any conditions or requirements as to how equipment disposal should be handled.
 

Central Office staff or school TSPs can assist with the setup and configuration of donated equipment that complies with the district hardware standards. For equipment that does not comply with the standards, Central Office staff or school TSPs can assist with the setup and configuration as long as the time required does not substantially exceed what would be required to set up equipment that is in compliance with district standards. If the technicians determine that extraordinary time will be required to set up and configure a nonstandard piece of hardware, they will advise the accepting department or school that assistance will not be available.

Comment: Nonstandard equipment can present serious challenges when interconnecting with district systems and networks. A substantial amount of time can be spent trying to locate software drivers and troubleshoot systems to make them work properly with other district systems. At some point the time invested to set up and configure the equipment outweighs the value of the equipment.

Make sure donor provides software licenses for any donated software, including the operating system software.

Comment: The district makes every effort to be in compliance with copyright laws. If software is loaded on a computer, it is only legal if we have proof of ownership or license for that software. It is not uncommon for a donor to give a machine that has the Windows operating system and copies of other commercial software already installed. Without proof of license, these software items must be removed or purchased by the district. Since every computer requires an operating system, be sure to understand if you are getting a license for Windows with the computer , or if the donor has retained the license. If the donor has retained the license for Windows (or never had a legal license), a copy will need to be purchased before the computer can be used. This cost should be considered before accepting the donation.
 

If the donor requires a receipt for their donation, provide them with a letter listing the make, model and serial number of donated items. It is the responsibility of the donor, not GCSS, to determine the value of donated items.

Comment: A simple thank-you letter that lists the items that have been donated are appreciated by most donors and useful in many cases for tax purposes. It is not the responsibility of GCSS personnel to provide the donor with the appraised value of the equipment.
 

Items offered for donation at the district level will be reviewed by Central Office staff  for acceptance. Distribution of donated items to departments or schools will be handled by the District Technology Coordinator. A donor may choose to designate a specific school or department to receive the donated items. If undesignated, the District Technology Coordinator will determine appropriate distribution by an assessment of need, or by soliciting proposals for usage of the equipment and selecting the recipient(s) on the merit of their proposal(s). A school or department may accept a donation directly if guidelines in this document are followed.
 

Any donated computer equipment, regardless of value, or other items valued at over $500 should be added to the fixed assets system. Final recipient of donated equipment should provide a list, including the source of the donation, serial numbers, descriptions, models, brands, and approximate values to the principal who will work with their building level or system level support staff to add the donated items to the school inventory.
 

Minimum Standards for State Surplus Computers for K-12 Schools

Intel or AMD based Pentium III 700 MhZ or higher desktop (Celeron 850 MhZ or higher), 17 inch monitor (1024 X 768 resolution),  keyboard and mouse, or 500 MhZ or higher laptop, min. 128 MB RAM and 10 GB hard drive, CD-ROM drive, USB ports, Windows 2000 or higher*, Ethernet NIC card, and sound card [Preferably with speakers, 40 GB or larger hard drive, USB 2.0 or firewire port(s), Windows XP or higher*, 256 MB RAM or greater]

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These standards are based upon a "rule of thumb" of providing computers to schools that are 3 years old or newer, so that these computers have at least one year of usable life in the schools (for the purposes of the annual statewide technology inventory, the "standards-based computers" are defined as computers that are 4 years old or newer). These standards were updated in June, 2005, and will be updated at least annually.