Cabell County Schools to collect devices, sell senior MacBooks and expand school internet bandwidth

Technology director Jason Jackson told the Cabell County Board of Education on May 20 that the district is wrapping up end‑of‑year device collection, expects revenue from a vendor buyback of senior MacBooks and will substantially increase internet capacity across all schools.

Jackson said 742 senior MacBooks were deployed this year and that some seniors may purchase their devices; sale prices vary by age and condition, with most purchases “between $240 and $290.” He described a vendor buyback negotiated at the prior board meeting that could return roughly $177,000 to the district if all devices are received, but said the guaranteed minimum in the contract is about $132,000 and “it will be somewhere in that neighborhood.”

He told the board that roughly 13,500 devices were deployed districtwide (K–12 deployments last summer), with an estimated 2,500–3,000 still in students’ hands at the time of collection. Jackson said the district’s observed breakage rate for devices this school year is about 4 percent, lower than typical national rates he cited of 6–8 percent.

Jackson reviewed the district’s E‑rate Category 1 network improvements, saying connections at each school will be upgraded and that most schools will receive 10‑gig links. He said the overall district cost for broadband will drop from about $365,000 per year to roughly $186,000, and that “90% will be reimbursed” through the state program. For Category 2 (in‑building hardware such as switches and access points) Jackson said specific projects were approved: Meadows Elementary (approximately $80,000 gross, with about an 85% reimbursement rate) and Woody Williams (over $400,000 in switches and access points, also at 85% reimbursement). He said Category 2 equipment orders are placed and expected to arrive in early‑to‑mid June.

Jackson also described planned summer maintenance on school data closets and device redeployment: eighth‑grade iPads will be collected, wiped and reassigned to kindergarteners; new ninth‑grade iPads/MacBooks will be issued to incoming high school students. He added that some older MacBooks held in inventory required battery repair before deployment, which reduced return amounts.

Jackson noted two grant opportunities staff are pursuing: the COPS SVPP grant to upgrade some middle‑school intercoms and bell systems (the district would consider a match up to 5 percent, he estimated $5,000–$7,000 depending on final price) and a West Virginia cybersecurity grant that needs no local match and would fund user phishing‑awareness training and on‑demand remediation.

Board members asked clarifying questions about timing and reimbursements. Jackson and Superintendent Hardesty confirmed device collection and most Category 2 work are scheduled over the summer to be ready for the next school year.

Ending: Jackson said the combination of higher bandwidth, device maintenance and state/federal reimbursements should reduce annual recurring costs and improve classroom connectivity going forward. The district will report final buyback proceeds once devices are returned and processed.