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East Brunswick board debates device-fee hike as tech costs rise; some trustees vote against the increase
Summary
Trustees spent more than an hour debating a staff proposal to raise the optional device-coverage fee from $50 to $75, citing a 53% increase in device/parts costs. The board approved the business-and-support package with two trustees recorded as voting against item 38; members asked staff to report back with family-cap and tiered options.
The East Brunswick Board of Education spent an extended portion of its June 18 meeting debating a staff proposal to raise the district's optional device-coverage fee for student laptops and Chromebooks, citing sharply higher device and parts prices.
Joe, the district's school business administrator, told the board that costs have jumped substantially and that model and parts prices are expected to rise. "The costs are increasing by 53 percent," he said, giving a district example that a Chromebook priced at $217 in the current year was quoted at $334 for the coming year and that a laptop with stylus moved from $331 to $530. He said those shifts were the basis for recommending a 50% round increase from $50 to $75 in optional coverage.
Board members raised concerns about the financial burden on families. "My problem here is that we've already put a 16% tax increase on them," said board member Antinetola, arguing that even a modest-sounding $25 increase would multiply across families with multiple children. Several trustees asked whether the district could adopt a family cap or tiered coverage, or run additional analysis before changing the fee.
The board debated a motion to table item 38 so staff could return with additional data; that motion failed on a voice vote. The board then proceeded to a roll-call vote on the full business-and-support package (items 1—8). The clerk recorded two trustees as voting "no" specifically on item 38 (Antinetola and Lewis Figureroa); the remainder of the package carried and the meeting moved on to curriculum items.
Officials told the board the device-coverage program is a self-insured enterprise fund that must remain solvent; if the fund were to run a deficit, the general fund would need to cover it and the county review would require corrective measures. Joe said the FY25 retained balance was roughly $100,000 going into the current year and that end-of-year repair claims and replacements typically increase costs late in the fiscal year.
Multiple trustees requested follow-up analyses: a family-cap calculation (similar to the board's sports-fee cap), a two-tier coverage option and an itemized forecast of repair and replacement volumes by school and family. The board asked staff to return with that data at the July meeting before pursuing a permanent fee change.
Votes at a glance
- Business & Support items 1—8 (en bloc), including item 38 (device coverage fee): approved in roll-call vote; Antinetola and Lewis Figureroa recorded "no" on item 38. The clerk recorded each member's vote at the meeting.
What happens next
District staff will compile family-cap scenarios, a tiered-coverage cost model and more detailed enterprise-fund projections for the board's next scheduled meeting on July 23, 2026.
