The Savannah Chatham County Public School District is missing nearly $400,000 in lost, stolen and damaged learning devices. iPads and chrome books were donated to students to help them learn virtually during the pandemic. David Feliciano, director of strategy and performance at SCCPPS, said students needed it when the pandemic hit. “We had to go remote. We had to move to online learning and students needed devices,” Feliciano said. An estimated 33,000 devices were issued in 2021. According to a request for open records, WJCL 22 News found that most devices had been returned, except for about 1,500 or 3% considered. lost, stolen or damaged. According to the district, these lost, stolen or damaged devices cost nearly $400,000. “$400,000 is considered a lot. Any amount is considered a lot. We don’t want to lose any devices. So we’re working on the best way to get those devices back,” Feliciano said. screen. turn off the device. Once we confirmed that it was one of our devices, we turned it over to the campus police for prosecution. I think it is important for the community to understand that these devices are for our students, they should not be sold or purchased,” Feliciano said.The district hopes the number of missing devices will decrease as some students who may have kept them during the summer return them.” We want them returned. It’s important that they be returned because we can’t take a loss like this every year,” Feliciano said. to purchase a device protection plan for $25. He pays the cost of the replacement.
The Savannah Chatham County Public School District is missing nearly $400,000 in lost, stolen and damaged learning devices. iPads and chrome books were donated to students to help them learn virtually during the pandemic.
David Feliciano, director of strategy and performance at SCCPPS, said students needed it when the pandemic hit.
“We had to go remote. We needed to move to online learning and students needed devices,” Feliciano said.
An estimated 33,000 devices were issued in 2021. According to a request for open records, WJCL 22 News found that most devices had been returned, except for about 1,500 or 3% considered lost, stolen or damaged. According to the district, these lost, stolen or damaged devices cost nearly $400,000.
“$400,000 is a lot. Any amount is considered a lot. We don’t want to lose any devices. So we are working on the best way to recover these devices,” Feliciano said.
Feliciano said the devices are engraved with district information on them. If anyone other than the students tries to turn on the device, they will find it locked, with an SCCPSS logo appearing on the screen.
Feliciano said local pawnbrokers were warned not to buy them or use them as collateral for a loan, but calls came in from outside Chatham County.
“We were contacted to say they wanted us to disable the device. Once we confirmed it was one of our devices, we turned it over to campus police for I think it’s important for the community to understand that these devices are for our students, they’re not to be sold and bought,” Feliciano said.
The district hopes the number of missing devices will decrease, as some students who may have kept them over the summer will return them.
“We want them back. It is important that they are returned because we cannot suffer a loss like this every year,” Feliciano said.
The district encourages parents to purchase a device protection plan for $25. He pays the cost of the replacement.