District plans high-school 1:1 Chromebook program to reduce cart inefficiencies and warranty exposure

Central Unified technology leaders told the board on June 9 they will refresh the district's device fleet and transition high schools to a 1:1 Chromebook model. Technology staff said cart-based deployments in multi-subject high schools are inefficient, lead to high damage and tracking problems, and put pressure on the limited school-to-home loaner program.

To address those problems, staff proposed deploying roughly 5,400 Chromebooks to grades 9'12, checked out directly to students and kept over breaks so students have devices for home work. The district plans to unify device models and warranty coverage, provide carrying bags, and maintain loaner carts in libraries for forgotten or uncharged devices. Staff reported repairing more than 1,200 devices this year and more than 2,000 total broken devices; out-of-warranty repairs have cost the district more than $113,000.

Under the proposed program, the first accidental damage incident would be waived; subsequent incidents would incur a $50 fee and full replacement charges could reach up to $400 unless families opt into a planned voluntary insurance option (approximately $15 per year) that covers many loss or damage scenarios including theft with a police report. The district said TK'8 will remain cart-based (about 14,400 devices in carts) and that consolidating inventory across grades will shorten repair turnaround.

Implementation steps include sending family agreement forms during data-confirmation windows in July, early textbook-phase checkouts in August, and ongoing support from library tech aides. Technology staff said they will manage fines and repairs in existing inventory systems and monitor the transition for needed tweaks.