Durham Public Schools Tracks Computers to Minimize Theft Risk
April 22, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
- Hank Hurd, Chief Operating Officer, 560-2504
- Mike Muirhead, Executive Director of Information Technology, 560-9196
DURHAM –Don’t even think about stealing a computer from Durham Public Schools. That’s because the school district has this year installed software on all its computers (laptops and desktop models) that enables the location of our computers to be traced. This effort is designed to minimize the impact of computer theft. Already, at least four stolen or lost computers have been traced using the software.
Computrace is an asset tracking, data protection and computer theft recovery system. With Computrace on DPS computers, the district can track use of the computers, even after the computer is no longer on DPS property.
Chief Operating Officer Hank Hurd said that in the past when computers were stolen, the district had little hope of recovering them. With Computrace, DPS can work with law enforcement to trace the computers and recover them for student and staff use.
“Installing Computrace on DPS computers for the 2008-09 school year was a part of our efforts to be as fiscally responsible as possible,” said Hurd. “Computers are a tool for teaching and learning, and we want every computer to be accounted for and in use. This tracking system enables us to do just that.”
The school district has some 12,000 computers.
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