Millville Board approves $778,511 Chromebook purchase, agrees to four-year lease financing

The Millville Board of Education on Aug. 25 approved the purchase of Chromebooks and related equipment through Bluum under state contract for $778,511.92 and a lease‑purchase financing agreement with American Capital Financial Services totaling $831,334.24 over four years at 4.56% interest, with annual payments of $207,833.56.

Board Secretary Richard Davidson told the board that the district did not have sufficient budgeted funds to replace its Chromebook inventory and that the lease‑purchase option would secure the devices while keeping within existing budget figures. Davidson explained that the district “realized at the end of the year that to reup our Chromebook inventory and have enough devices for each student we would require more than what was in the budget,” and that the financing approach allowed the district to acquire the devices immediately.

Public commenter Tamara Davis raised concerns about the lease terms and device longevity, asking why the district is leasing Chromebooks and “paying interest when they only last four years.” The board did not amend the financing motion after the comment; the motion to approve Finance & Facilities items 18A–18W (which included the Chromebook purchase and financing as Item 18I) was made by Mr. Whilden and seconded by Ms. McCarron and carried by roll call.

The board’s approval authorizes purchase under state contract Ed Data #12297 and authorizes the lease financing as presented in the agenda backup. The minutes record that the finance motion carried and that Ms. McCarron abstained on several unrelated finance items (18O, 18P, 18Q and 18R), but not on the Chromebook item.

Next steps: district staff will finalize the purchase and execute the lease agreement; implementation details (device deployment schedule, warranty/insurance, and budget line‑item amortization) were not specified in the minutes and are listed as not specified in the district record.