Omaha Public Schools Gets 4 Million in Technology Vouchers from Microsoft

In April of 2005 I brought you a story on our radio show Compute This (Saturdays from 10-11 in Lincoln, NE) about a small Fremont law firm that managed to successfully sue Microsoft for 22.6 million for anti-competitive practices in the state of Nebraska.You can listen to the archived interview here.

Microsoft settled the class action suit and agreed to pay 50% of any unclaimed funds from the settlement in the form of technology vouchers to Nebraska’s public schools. Schools were awarded the vouchers based upon need as measured by participation in the Federal School Lunch Program.

Based on those calculations, the Omaha World Herald reported today that Omaha Public Schools was awarded $4.05 Million after filing some grueling paperwork to prove that they were qualified to receive the funds under the settlement.

The unexpected influx will allow the district to augment their planned technology expansion and allow for the purchase of additional equipment that had not been budgeted.

“This is like manna from heaven,” school board member Mona McGreggor said on Monday. Assistant Superintendent Dennis Pool said that there was a significant effort put forth to prove that OPS qualified for the award under the settlement.

Half of the money will be used for computer software (Microsoft’s or that of a competitor) and the other half will be used for hardware purchases.

The Milliard Public School District received just over $95,000, and calls to the Lincoln Public School District were not returned as of yet.