Repair? Refresh? Recycle? Replace?

Just five years ago, Chawanakee USD, a small rural district nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains in northern California, and the North Kansas City School District, a suburban district located just north of Kansas City, Mo., were at the starting lines of the digital revolution.

The two districts were about to launch 1-to-1 laptop programs. For Chawanakee, that meant buying new MacBooks for the 280 students in the district’s only high school. For North Kansas City, that meant leasing 7-inch HP mini laptops for its 6,000 high school students.

But that was just phase one. About three years in, both Chawanakee and North Kansas City wrestled with a quandary that all 1-to-1 programs eventually face: What to do when devices become outdated or need repairs.

There are several options. Districts can spring for the repairs or replacement parts. They can charge parents fees to cover insurance or damage. They can choose a leasing agreement that allows for new devices every few years. They can replace their entire inventory with the latest model. Or they can opt to buy refurbished devices when the old ones cycle out after three to five years.

“It’s one of the real difficult pieces of maintaining programs,” says Bob Nelson, Chawanakee’s superintendent. “People get into it thinking it’s a one-time-thing expenditure instead of realizing they’re obligated to a program they are going to need to sustain long-term.”

And, school officials and vendors say, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. The experiences of the Chawanakee and North Kansas City districts illustrate the options and obstacles navigated by any district leader maintaining 1-to-1 programs.

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