Technology donation best practices for school sites and departments.

We recommend against the practice of permitting school partners or community organizations to purchase consumer-grade technology equipment and donate that to schools.

Consumer-grade equipment has not been manufactured for, or is expected to hold up to the daily demands and rigors of classroom use.

We recommend the purchase of approved District standard computing devices.  This kind of equipment has undergone a significant vetting process to ensure software and security compatibility and can withstand the pressures of classroom use.  We have also negotiated discounted warranties to ensure we can service the machines for at least three (3) years after purchase or obtain replacement in case of failure.

The SFUSD Department of Technology would like to work with you, your site, and the donor of any equipment to make sure it operates safely, reliably and is compatible with SFUSD programs and settings.

If you have received donated computers that need to be set up, please follow these steps: 

1. The school should contact the Department of Technology (DoT) by submitting a service request prior to the donation being accepted so that arrangements can be made to inspect the equipment to ensure its usefulness, confirm and install the District's legally licensed software, and provide user accounts and settings for network connectivity.
2. The DoT Ray Porter Center (RPC) for Digital Equity and DoT Support Team will then will make a determination as to the most efficient way to image the computers to the District standard.  This may include having the computers delivered to the site and removing the drives for imaging, delivery from the donor to the RPC for imaging, or configuration at the site based on the preliminary inspection.
3. The equipment must align with the current adopted standards for computer hardware, be compliant with the SFUSD Technology Acceptable Use and Security Policy (AUP) and have the ability to support District software and program requirements.

Please submit a service request or call the DoT Help Desk at 241-6476 to initiate the process of having the equipment evaluated and to put our SFUSD Dept. of Technology Staff in contact with the donor. If a representative from our Team has the opportunity to connect with an outside partner in regard to a donation of technology during the planning stage, the chance for a successful implementation increases dramatically.