BELL TO OFFER DISCOUNT TO SCHOOLS

Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. will offer a 20 percent discount to more than 1,200 accredited public and private schools, colleges and universities in Missouri.

That could save schools an estimated $800,000 a year on selected telephone services, said Horace Wilkins Jr., president of Southwestern Bell Telephone-Missouri.

Wilkins announced the discount Thursday in St. Louis.

Previously, state regulations prohibited the phone company from offering discount services to schools.

But state lawmakers approved a bill that allows Southwestern Bell to offer discounts to accredited educational institutions.

To qualify, schools must be accredited by either the Missouri Chapter of the National Federation of Non-Public Schools Accrediting Association, Independent Schools Association of the Central States, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, or the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Public schools must be accredited by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education or the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.