About 2 years ago Walden School leased (for 3 years) 10 new PCs from Micron.
It made an immediate difference in the PCs per student, and in the average
performance of the machines in use. The decision to do this was largely that
of one of three people then on the school board.

I've often heard arguments that leases make less sense for nonprofits such as
schools because they can't take the same tax advantages of the lease costs
as a business can. The school might have been able to save a few bucks by
getting a loan and buying the PCs.

However, there is one additional factor that has made the lease advantageous,
and that is that they are covered by a warranty and tech support for the term
of the lease. So, when a monitor burns out, or I need help getting a PC back
into working order, I can call Micron and get competent, friendly, prompt help.

Sigurd Andersen

At 11:33 AM 3/28/02 -0500, you wrote:

>Hi all
>
>First sorry for the duplication of this message, but I want to reach as
>main of you as possible.
>
>Here at Lamoille south we are investigating the option to lease our
>technology equipment.  Is anyone in a lease agreement at this point with
>their technology infrastructure? I would like to hear from those of you
>that have signed a lease how this is going for your school districts and
>is it lowering the total cost of ownership of the equipment.  I have a few
>questions about it.
>
>How long have you been in a lease?
>
>Who do you have the lease through?
>
>What have been the pros and cons to be in the lease?
>
>What is your total percentage of your technology budget and/or hardware
>budget that you have committed to a lease?
>
>What is type of equipment is on the lease?
>
>Have you seen an increase in use of technology by students since you have
>enacted the lease?
>
>Did the lease change the instruction for the students by increasing the
>number of machines that the students have access to?
>
>
>
>Thanks a bunch for the advise.
>
>Bill Kimball
>