3 Schools in Riot Areas Get Donated Computers

Students at three elementary schools located in riot-affected areas will be using computers to practice their spelling, math and reading skills.

Garfield, International and King elementary schools each received four IBM computers donated by GTE California last month. Classes may sign up to use the computers that will be located in the school library.

“GTE funded it, and all we had to have was the electrical outlets in the wall to plug them into,” said district spokesman Richard G. Van Der Laan.

Originally GTE had planned to implement the program at selected schools in 1993, Van Der Laan said. But after the spring riots, GTE decided to start the program a year earlier and to join forces with Rebuild L.A., an organization dedicated to improving the economic prospects for residents in areas harmed by the riots.

Each of the schools received computer equipment, educational software and technical training. The entire computer system is worth $50,000 and is part of a computer network that was tried out at schools in Indianapolis last year.

The computers are hooked up to a sophisticated system that allows 250 students at a number of schools to have access to a program at the same time. They also will have a CD-ROM player that will act as an electronic dictionary.