Read the entire article on the Wicked Local Walpole website:

The Walpole Computer Foundation has been donating to local education for 17 years, but with the lagging economy causing school administration to make across-the-board budget cuts, this year’s donation may be the most valuable.

The nonprofit foundation recently granted $65,000 to the school district to pay for classroom and computer technology.

Established in 1992, the Walpole Computer Foundation’s mission, said foundation President Curt Stevenson, is to make sure Walpole schools have the latest technologies in the classroom to maintain a strong learning environment.

This year, however, was a little different.

Normally, the foundation funds experimental new technology – like interactive whiteboards in 2006 – but this year, Stevenson and company found themselves financing more basic technology needs to supplement the schools’ operational budget amongst cuts.

"There’s just a lot of basic needs that aren’t being funded," Stevenson said. "We’ve picked up some of the slack. You have a teacher there standing with their hands out saying, ‘If you don’t fund this, the kids aren’t going to get it."’

Teachers who wish to apply for foundation grants send proposals through their department heads or principals. Similar proposals are then consolidated by administrators …