Cleveland Schools Settle $1.2 Million Computer Dispute
The Cleveland school system and Digital Equipment Corporation have settled a dispute over $1.2 million in computer purchases that district employees made without school board authorization.
After months of negotiations, the district agreed this month to pay the company $617,300, or about half the amount owed on unpaid invoices found in one district administrator’s desk.
School district officials had acknowledged during negotiations with the company that their employees had bungled the account and that they had received the goods and services for which they were being billed.
The district insisted, however, that company employees must have been aware that the purchases were being made without the approval of the school board.
The district is attempting to clean house in the wake of a state audit and other investigations that revealed widespread problems in its computer-related purchasing. (See Education Week, Jan. 12, 1994.)
