Oct. 16--A little bit of online detective work by a Memphis City Schools board member may raise questions about how millions of stimulus dollars are being spent in the city.

During a presentation Monday night on the $4.9 million of stimulus funding the district intends to spend for 3,957 new laptops and installation, board member Patrice Robinson typed in the series number of the laptops that the schools plan to buy on her own laptop and found the product for less.

"Help me understand why we are spending $940," she said, "when I see the exact R400 Series laptop on the Internet for $590."

The explanation, said Deputy Supt. Irving Hamer, is memory.

"What we are trying to do is to extend the shelf life (of the laptops) out three to five years," he said. "The machine on the Web site has a prescribed amount of memory. We may be doing two to three times that amount.

"What we really want to do is get as much utility as we can before we have to replace them."

According to information the board received, the laptops cost $942 apiece with a case and $966 without.

The one-time nature of stimulus money makes leasing unattractive because there is no guarantee funding will be available when the lease expires.

"Never, ever would I have the funds again to make this kind of a purchase unless the federal government provides stimulus dollars again," said Patricia Toarmina, executive director of exceptional children and health services.

"You almost can't be a teacher without having a computer," she said, adding that laptops free them to work at home instead of being tied to classroom computers.

She ordered 15 laptops for each of 198 schools, plus 987 of the same model for every special education teacher in the district.

The contract includes an average of $132.88 per unit for installation and configuration and $75 for insurance and GPS, plus $16,185 for 15 wireless carts, among other charges.

Robinson's question raised enough red flags that Supt. Kriner Cash asked his staff to prepare a breakdown of costs before the board votes next week.

"We need to be real clear about how the price unpacks," he said. "I always urge staff to get 40 to 50 percent off the shelf price."

On Thursday, MCS spokesman Quintin Taylor said the district was investigating a lower price.

"That information will be presented to the board Monday," he said.

Robinson said she doesn't work for the school district and shouldn't have to do its work.

"As a board member I shouldn't have to tell them how to do their job," she said Thursday.

The district received four bids for the purchase. The winning bid, also the lowest, came from Computer Support Services Corp., 3885 S. Perkins.

On Thursday, the employee who answered the phone said the manager would not be available until Monday.

-- Jane Roberts: 529-2512

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