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Board debates device protection program after staff reports rising repair costs and collection gaps
Summary
District staff said repair and replacement expenses for student devices have grown (staff cited cumulative losses and a $250,000 vendor bill last year) and proposed options including shared repair staffing, limited in‑house repairs, a security deposit pilot at middle schools, or modest fee adjustments.
District CNS staff presented an analysis showing the Technology Device Protection Program is operating with growing losses and a widening gap between assessed damage fees and collections. Staff said they expected to "approach, you know, well over a $150,000 of cumulative losses" and reported the district paid a commercial vendor (Iterity/Iturity) "over a $250,000 last year." They showed year‑to‑year figures where fees assessed outweighed collections (example figures cited included $58,780 assessed vs. $11,602 collected in the most recent fiscal year).
Staff outlined several options to reduce net costs: pursue a shared repair technician with a neighboring district to split a full‑time position; explore CTE or nonprofit partnerships to do lower‑cost repairs; pilot a security deposit (staff noted Oregon statutes allow deposits but fee waivers would apply to eligible families); and consider modest increases to the optional protection fee (staff said moving from $40 to $50 could be considered but said a breakeven would require a far larger fee). Board members debated equity and collection approaches, raised the potential to scale repairs by including staff equipment, and asked staff to return with a formal recommendation.
