School Committee approves two Apple leases to replace teacher and student devices, and to offer parent lease option for incoming ninth graders

The Hopkinton School Committee on June 12 approved two lease agreements with Apple, Inc., to support student and district device needs for the coming school year.

District technology staff described two separate leases. The first is a parent-facing lease-purchase option for incoming ninth-grade students: parents are offered two full-device pricing options quoted in the meeting as $974.69 for model one and $1,706.19 for model two; the quoted prices include insurance, taxes and a $1 buyout fee. District staff said the parent-side lease is funded via the existing student revolving account into which participating parents pay.

The second lease covers district equipment purchases for fiscal year 2026. Staff said the district will procure roughly 200 laptops, about 30 iMacs and approximately 675 iPads (the iPad total was identified as Marathon Elementary’s full replacement) under a PE PPM contract. The presenters described annual district lease payments as $171,192; funding will come from the district technology budget. Staff told the committee Marathon Elementary’s iPads had been in service for about six to seven years and now require replacement.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about device counts, which buildings the devices serve, and where costs will be charged. Technology staff answered that the iPad replacement is for Marathon Elementary, the laptops and iMacs include teacher replacements and the high-school graphics lab, and the lease terms follow district procurement practices. There was one inconsistency noted in the meeting record about the parent lease term: an earlier presenter said parent leases would run over three years, while a later sentence referenced a four-year period; the committee record did not clarify which term will apply.

A motion to approve the two leases carried on a roll-call vote with all voting members present recorded as yes. Committee members were told staff will proceed with procurement under the district’s contract vehicles and charge annual lease payments to the technology budget.