Before the Technology Capital Levy was first approved by voters in 2014, the district piloted many different options for student devices, and iPads had come out on top for a variety of reasons. Apple had the biggest educational ecosystem at the time, and the devices were a good size and easy to use for all students.

That investment in iPads is now making taxpayers’ dollars go even further. 

Chief Technology Officer Mike Christianson said Apple products are efficient and dependable, plus they also have a high resale value. That’s important when devices are replaced every three to four years.

“So instead of a Chromebook, that after four years the device is either given away, or sold for $5 or even paid to dispose of at times, we’re receiving about a third of the value of the original purchase price.”

With 21,000 devices being replaced, that means millions of dollars are being brought back into the district, stretching those Tech Levy dollars as far as possible.

Those devices are setting students up for success in the future. We all know technology is here to stay, but that doesn’t mean it’s tech time from the start of the school day to the final bell.

“An iPad is not the best tool for learning at every moment of the day. In fact we know screen time is an issue, whether it’s instructional or Youtube, we know that too much screentime is not good for anybody,” Christianson said. “It’s a tool for teachers to enhance instruction, not to replace instruction, not to replace a teacher, not to replace a pencil.”

“Obviously we’re not on our iPads all day,” said Liberty Middle School teacher Melissa Heltsley. “But when we do need them, they are so effective in developing our students into the future leaders we want to see in this world.”

Heltsley was one of the original pilot teachers who test drove those iPads more than a decade ago. “Before that, I remember how challenging it was to plan for research for all of our various topics we cover, and how I had to sign up to use the computer lab, and the kids only got one day, and it was very complex,” she said.

Now with iPads in the classroom, research is instantly at students' fingertips, and they can work on increasingly creative, complex projects.

When students are using their devices, Christianson said we need to ensure students stay safe online. That’s why cybersecurity is another big ticket item the Tech Levy pays for. Even something as simple as two-factor authentication has a cost associated with it. Christianson said with over 3,000 staff and 21,000 students, the free version of a security software isn’t going to cut it. The Tech Levy allows us to ensure the security technology is scalable to our needs, and that it can be managed and support our users well.

Another thing the Tech Levy funds is digital storage. That may seem like a strange item, but it’s also security related. 

At all of our schools and on our buses we have security cameras. The video captured needs to be stored for a certain amount of time. “Our ability to do that relies on how much storage capacity we have in our data center,” said Christianson. “We actually have a petabyte at this point.” A petabyte is one million gigabytes. “It’s a lot, and that is expensive.”

Like the iPads, those servers also need to be replaced every three to four years. “We budget for that out of the levy,” said Christianson. That’s not cheap, and while he said they look for the best deal, often cheap doesn’t mean reliable. “We don’t want it to fail,” he said.

Those data storage centers also get very warm and need to be kept cool. That means chillers and air conditioning systems. “Those need to be purchased, they need to be serviced, and then over the course of a decade, replaced,” said Christianson.

That’s all thanks to the Technology Capital Levy, which will be on the ballot alongside our Educational Programs and Operations Levy on February 10, 2026. Both levies are at the same tax rates that voters approved in 2022.

For the Tech Levy, that means it will remain at $0.31 per $1,000 of assessed value. 

You can learn more about both levies at bethelsd.org/levy