ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, January 3, 1996             TAG: 9601030069
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-1  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER 

COMPUTER GIVEAWAY A SEMI-BUST REPORT SAYS ALLEN DIDN'T MATCH GIFTS TO SCHOOL NEEDS

The Allen administration's pre-election giveaway of 324 surplus computers left some schools with machines that are incompatible or that can't run available software, according to a state audit report released Tuesday.

The report by Walter J. Kucharski, auditor of public accounts, found that little effort was made to match the computers with schools that needed them.

Democrats say the findings bolster the contention that Gov. George Allen was more concerned about scoring political points than making sure students got computers that worked. "It was the most obvious political pork barrel," said Gail Nardi, state Democratic Party spokeswoman.

In mid-October, the state General Services Department distributed the surplus computers to 23 school districts represented by seven Republican lawmakers facing tough re-election bids.

Allen has said the shipments were not politically motivated. But Senate Finance Chairman Hunter Andrews asked Kucharski to look into the matter.

But Kucharski's report sidestepped the political question. "Not my job. I'm not touching that," he said Tuesday.

In his report, Kucharski concluded that the Allen administration broke no laws in disposing of the computers.

Kucharski noted, however, that communication was poor between General Services and the Education Department.

General Services shipped the computers in mid-October before the Education Department could survey districts about their needs. As a result, some rural schools in dire need of computers received none. And others that received machines are having trouble figuring out what to do with them.

"Some of the local school divisions indicated that they received equipment that they will have difficulty integrating into their systems," Kucharski wrote.

Donald C. Williams, General Services director, said that asking schools what they needed would have been an "unnecessary, bureaucratic" step.

Williams said surveying schools would have raised the cost of the computers, which were delivered for $18.34 each.

The state has another 200 surplus computers ready to go. Williams said his department will talk to education officials before making the second shipment.

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