Board approves $6.4 million technology refresh, agrees to four-year lease

The Bellevue Public Schools Board of Education voted to approve a districtwide technology refresh for 2026 that the administration estimated will cost $6,400,000 in total but will be financed through a four-year lease after offsets.

Greg, who led the presentation, told the board the current fleet was purchased in stages beginning with a 2017 bond and later refreshed with ESSER funds. "So the total cost for this is $6,400,000," he said, and added that the district expects a guaranteed purchase price on resale of about "$1,250,000" plus another $400,000 from activity-account insurance to reduce the lease amount to approximately $4,764,874 spread over four payments.

The administration said the refresh would cover student iPads (different configurations and keyboards for grades 7-12), staff MacBook Airs, classroom Apple TVs and asset-tagging and provisioning so devices would be ready for student use when distributed. Greg said the district is seeking a four-year warranty through the leasing arrangement; "As long as you can produce the device, we will get it fixed or replace it," he said.

Board members pressed the administration on alternatives, instructional value, repair exposure and security. A middle-school science teacher, introduced by the board as Miss Bobier, described classroom uses of devices for virtual labs and active student work, saying that when used for instruction the devices were not "just watching a movie" but "actively engaged with whatever you're working on on the iPad." The presenter noted the district recently hired a cybersecurity specialist and uses a mobile device manager and content filters to limit inappropriate content.

On a motion to approve the technology refresh, the board recorded six "Yes" votes and the motion passed. The board and administration said the first lease payment would be offset by the resale proceeds and the $400,000 activity-account contribution; subsequent payments would be budgeted in future cycles. The administration emphasized that leases historically used by Apple to fund district device programs have carried extended warranties and trade-in arrangements that the district considered fiscally preferable to paying full upfront costs.

The approval directs staff to finalize lease documentation and the asset-replacement schedule. The district did not specify vendors beyond the Apple arrangement described in the presentation; final procurement and timing will be handled through the district27s purchasing process and appear in future budget cycles.