Claris signs state-wide agreement with Washington schools; wins award for contributions to education; Washington school districts receive Claris Home Page for Web authoring in the classroom in support of Goals 2000 project.

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 21, 1996--Claris Corp. has strengthened its position as a leading developer of productivity solutions for educators and students by signing an agreement with the Educational Service Districts (ESD) on behalf of K-12 public schools in the state of Washington.

The ClarisPlus Master Education Software License (MESL) agreement gives schools state-wide pricing equity for all Claris and Apple-labeled software. At the same time, Claris Home Page was selected as the Web authoring software in support of a Goals 2000 project to encourage each of the 296 school districts in the state to create its own home page this year.

In addition, at the recent EdNET education technology conference in Chicago, Claris won the fourth annual EdNET HERO award, co-sponsored by The Heller Reports and a group of educational technology industry firms, for having made the most significant positive impact on education through educational technology by a for-profit company.

"To empower all our schools to create compelling and informative home pages, we needed an authoring solution that was very easy-to-use right out of the box and cross-platform," said Dennis Small, Educational Telecommunications Supervisor at the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, regarding the Goals 2000 grant. "Claris Home Page fit the bill perfectly."

"The equity that the Claris MESL agreement brings to small and mid-sized districts is significant," said Debbie Tschirgi, Educational Technology Director, ESD 112. "Frequently, large districts are able to get substantial price breaks in software purchases, because they buy in large quantities.

"This state-wide program allows small and mid-sized districts who may only need to purchase a few licenses the opportunity to purchase Claris products at the same competitive prices as the larger districts."

"Over the years, with the release of the software packages that supported first Apple and Macintosh computers, and later Windows computers, Claris has influenced the use of computers for education tremendously," said the EdNET Awards judges.

"Our partnership with Washington and the EdNET award demonstrate our ongoing commitment to K-12 education," said Marvin Zauderer, Claris director of K-12 education sales and marketing. "Our number one priority is to provide software solutions that save educators time. We want to be the best at helping teachers manage their day, teach, and communicate using technology."

CONTACT: Claris Corp.

Ines Anderson, 408/987-7154

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