Board committee recommends Apple lease for 2,200 student iPads, staff device refresh and employee buyback option
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Summary
The committee recommended a 0%‑interest Apple lease to replace about 2,200 student iPads (including keyboard cases and AppleCare) at an estimated total just over $1 million, approved staff device leasing and an employee buyback offering of leased MacBooks for $320 each.
The committee recommended three coordinated technology steps for board approval: a 0%‑interest Apple lease to acquire roughly 2,200 new iPads (with keyboard cases and three‑year AppleCare) for Sparta High School, Meadowview, Herman and Innovation STEM Academy; a staff device replacement lease for instructional MacBooks; and an employee buyback program offering leased staff MacBooks for $320 each.
Technology staff explained the student device plan would provide one‑to‑one iPad devices to specified buildings; each device package (iPad, keyboard case, AppleCare) was quoted at $473, bringing the new fleet cost to just over $1 million. Administration recommended a three‑year replacement cycle and a 0% interest lease spread at roughly $350,000 per year.
For other sites (Montessori, Southside, Sales) administrators proposed repurposing relatively new iPads from the high school fleet rather than buying new devices; that approach would reuse about 260 devices and avoid roughly $87,000 in purchase costs. For SVLA, staff said iPads were not a good fit and recommended repurposing staff MacBooks (about 55 units) to avoid roughly $50,000 in new purchases.
Staff device plans called for replacing leased MacBooks at the end of their lease and reissuing current staff devices when cost‑effective. Presentation numbers: instructional staff devices $235,000; non‑instructional staff devices $85,000; total $340,000, typically leased on a three‑year cycle (approximately $112,000 per year). The committee also recommended purchasing about 19 specialized central‑office devices outright at an estimated $35,000.
The board also approved a staff device buyback offering modeled on a prior successful program: employees would have an initial limit of one device each and could purchase an eligible three‑year‑old MacBook for $320; unsold units would be returned to the leasing company.
Motions to forward the leases and buyback plan to the full board were moved and seconded and recorded as moving forward to the full board with a 4–0 vote and three absences. Administration will provide the final lease documents (Apple’s required resolution language) to the full board prior to the full‑board vote.
