Sun Prairie Area School District staff recommends $526,000 Chromebook purchase and extended warranty

Dr. Kurt Mold, district staff member, told the Sun Prairie Area School District board that he is recommending the purchase of Chromebooks, Chrome OS management licenses and an extended warranty for a total of $526,000, with device costs charged to Fund 46 and warranty costs to Fund 10.

Mold said the recommendation is before the board because the total exceeds the district's $250,000 threshold for purchases that must be approved by the board. "This year, we sent bids out in hopes that we would get ahead of any sort of potential increase in overall cost for technology related to anticipated tariffs," Mold said, describing the competitive procurement process.

The recommendation covers replacements for Chromebooks that have reached end of life, primarily the devices stored in classroom carts used by third- through fifth-grade students. Mold said the district operates a 1-to-1 device program: kindergarten and first-grade students receive iPads, and students in grades two through 12 are assigned Chromebooks. Devices in grades three through five generally remain at school, although teachers can send them home for limited purposes.

Mold said the district is in its 11th year of Chromebook purchasing and that this is the fourth year the district has purchased devices outright rather than leasing them. He said direct purchasing has reduced lease interest costs that previously were about $37,000 annually. "Direct purchasing over leasing has been a fiscally more responsible direction to move in," he said.

On procurement outcomes, Mold said the district received several competitive bids and is moving to a new vendor this year. He said a vendor identified as Trafera submitted a bid for a compatible device that was about $28 per unit lower than the bid from PDS (which was recently purchased by Converge). "We're actually purchasing the exact same device we purchased last year and the year before that," Mold said, and added that this is the first time the district will pay less than $200 per unit for the device.

The recommended contract includes an extended warranty with unlimited accidental-damage protection (ADP) and a theft-or-loss allowance equal to 2% of total volume. Mold explained the 2% coverage at an estimated 2,000-device purchase would allow replacement of up to 40 devices without additional questions. "If a device is stolen, if it's lost on a bus and is never returned, we can get up to 40 of those devices replaced, no questions asked," he said.

Mold highlighted operational reasons for choosing the device and vendor: familiarity of the device for district technicians, the ability to maintain a parts closet for bezels, screens and keyboards, and positive references from similarly sized districts, which he identified as Stevens Point and West Bend. He also noted that the warranty and parts strategy would permit quicker internal repairs rather than sending units out for service.

Mold described how the district manages replacement cycles and reserves: the district now keeps Chromebooks for four years instead of three, which spreads replacement needs and lets the technology department set aside funds in higher-replacement years for use in later cycles. He said license and warranty funding sources are split: warranty funded from Fund 10 (technology department) and Chromebook/device and Chrome OS license costs from Fund 46, which the technology department maintains with a multiyear replacement cycle.

No formal board vote or approval was recorded in the transcript excerpt. Mold closed by reiterating that the recommendation requires board action due to the $250,000 threshold and invited questions.