OCC to donate old computers to schools

Orange Coast College will donate 760 surplus computers to about half a dozen nearby school districts and campuses including Newport-Mesa Unified, Huntington Beach City School District, Huntington Beach Union High School District and Fountain Valley High School.

At its meeting Wednesday, the Coast Community College District board of trustees — OCC’s governing body — approved giving away the equipment.

In doing so, trustees acknowledged that the computers were too old to be useful at the campus and not valuable enough to arrange to sell, according to board documents.

Trustee David Grant questioned whether these computers were worth donating if they’re outdated.

“A $1,200 computer one year may be worth $300, but it’s worth a lot to somebody who is doing simple things,” Trustee Jim Moreno responded. “And it’s worthwhile.”

Grant ultimately agreed when trustees voted 4 to 0 to approve the move. Trustee Jerry Patterson was absent.

In April, trustees authorized spending $1.5 million to buy more than 1,000 new computers as part of a campuswide technology upgrade at OCC.

— Jeremiah Dobruck

Twitter: @jeremiahdobruck