IBM asked to forgive school $5 million debt

BIGGISH BLUE has been asked to forgive a $5 million deal it did with a school district in West Contra Costa.

The school district owes IBM for computers ordered in the late 1980s and early 1990s by the then district Superintendent Walter Marks.

It is not clear if the computers were even used. Several former district officials called them "obsolete" and "useless" when they arrived.

However IBM wanted the money anyway. The school board ran out of cash and had to borrow $28.5 million from the state in 1990 and 1991 to stay afloat.

Biggish Blue had said it expected to be paid and called its repayment plan "generous" because the company is not charging interest.

Now politicians are meeting with Big Blue to see if they can get the outfit to write off the debt and claim it back on tax as a charitable donation.

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