SWARTZ CREEK — On Aug. 7 the Swartz Creek Community Schools Board of Education approved the purchase of 70 computers from Dell for $61,154.10.

The new desktop computers will be for computer labs at the high school and middle school and include 22-inch monitors, keyboards, mouses, Genuine Windows 7 Professional operating systems, Intel Core i5 2400 (3.1 GHz) processors and 4 GB DDR3 memory.

‘Technology moves so quickly,” said Jim Bleau, assistant superintendent for Swartz Creek Community Schools. “We are trying to keep up with the technology that is out there.”

Bleau said the new computers will replace the previous computers in the labs which are about six years old.

“The wear and tear on educational computers is large,” Bleau said. “They are being used seven hours per day constantly.”

Bleau added that he expects the new computers to last about 4-5 years.

Swartz Creek Community Schools received three bids from three different computer vendors for the new computers, and Dell came in at the lowest bid. The other two bids came in at over $66,000 and $78,000.

The bulk of the money for the new computers was funded by a grant of about $57,000 from the Educational Development Plan (EDP) through the Genesee Intermediate School District.

EDP operates at the high school and middle school and helps students gauge possible career pathways as well as assists them in making class selections suited to their career choices.

“EDP helps students get a grasp of career possibilities as well as understanding their interest and aptitude,” Bleau said.

Bleau added that funds from EDP must be spent on very specific things and that the primary purpose of the new computers will be for the EDP program.

Finally, Bleau said the old computers may be used for parts.