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Lake Oswego SD 7J board approves $50 optional device protection fee, tightens collection practices
Summary
The Lake Oswego SD 7J board approved an increase to the optional student device protection fee for 2025–26, and discussed collection, replacement cycles and possible middle-school device use changes.
The Lake Oswego SD 7J Board of Directors on a voice vote approved the administration’s recommendation to raise the optional student technology device protection fee from $40 to $50 for the 2025–26 school year and to formalize related collection and replacement practices.
District staff told the board the fee remains optional and that families who qualify for the district’s free-or-reduced-fee program would receive waivers or reductions. Superintendent Dr. Shealy and Director of Computer Network Services James Miller (present for technical questions) described the district’s goal as limiting repair and replacement costs that they said consumed district funds better devoted to instruction.
The administration told the board the district currently manages roughly $2.5 million in student device assets and that average repair or replacement costs are about $400 per device. Staff said the device program lost about $160,000 last year and that damaged equipment is concentrated at the middle school level. Administrators proposed a roughly four-year replacement cycle for Chromebooks and said some district Chromebooks are more than four years old.
During discussion board members asked about alternatives the district had considered. Staff said they declined to recommend a deposit fee because it could be an additional financial burden for families with multiple students and that it would be revisited only after other incremental steps. The board discussed possible program changes including tighter enforcement of payment before participation in optional fee-based extracurriculars (enabled by recently installed student-fee software), piloting a “stay-at-school” policy for middle-school devices to reduce home damage, and exploring in-house or partnership repair options to lower commercial repair bills.
Administrators also explained limitations on bring-your-own-device (BYOD) use: district-purchased monitoring and testing software does not run on personal devices because of licensing and because personal devices are not district property. Staff said that restricts teachers’ ability to monitor online tests and classroom activity on non-district devices.
A motion to approve the recommendation was made and seconded; the board voted verbally “Aye,” and the motion passed. The board asked administration to monitor the program’s effect and return with updates if adjustments are needed.
Board members said they view the action as an interim step while the district continues to refine device policy, replacement cycles and repair options.
The vote was recorded verbally; individual roll-call votes were not specified in the transcript.
