If you manage IT for a Texas school district, charter school, community college, or university, you already know the drill. Every few years — sometimes more often — you cycle out hundreds or thousands of devices. Chromebooks from a 1:1 program that hit end of life. Desktop labs that can’t run the latest testing software. Servers in the MDF that were decommissioned two budget cycles ago but never actually left the building.
Getting that equipment out the door is one thing. Doing it in a way that’s compliant, secure, and doesn’t create more work for your already stretched team is another.
This guide covers what Texas educational institutions need to know about IT equipment disposal — from state surplus property rules to FERPA data requirements to the practical logistics of clearing out a building full of old tech.
The Unique Challenges Schools Face with IT Disposal
Schools and universities deal with IT disposal challenges that most private businesses don’t encounter. Understanding these challenges is the first step toward solving them.
Volume and Variety
A single school district may have thousands of Chromebooks, hundreds of desktops, dozens of servers, and a mix of networking gear, interactive displays, and peripherals spread across multiple campuses. A university might add research equipment, lab workstations, and data center hardware to that list. The sheer volume makes ad hoc disposal impractical.
Budget Constraints
Education IT budgets are tight. Disposal is often an unfunded mandate — there’s money to buy new equipment but not always money to get rid of the old stuff. That leads to equipment piling up in storage rooms, closets, and loading docks for years.
Student Data Protection
Schools handle massive amounts of student data — grades, attendance records, disciplinary files, IEPs, health information, and personally identifiable information (PII) covered under FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act). Any device that has touched that data needs to be sanitized before it leaves the district’s control.
State Surplus Property Rules
Texas public schools and universities are subject to state rules governing the disposal of surplus property. You can’t just throw equipment in a dumpster or give it away without following the proper process.
Staff Bandwidth
Most school IT departments are running lean. The people who would handle a disposal project are the same people keeping the network up, managing devices, and supporting teachers and staff. Disposal gets pushed to the bottom of the list because there’s always something more urgent.
Texas Surplus Property Rules for Schools
Public schools and universities in Texas are required to follow state guidelines when disposing of surplus property, including IT equipment. The specific requirements depend on the type of institution.
K-12 Public School Districts
Texas school districts are governed by Texas Education Code §37.0021 and the policies established by their boards of trustees for surplus property disposal. Generally, school boards must declare equipment as surplus before it can be disposed of. Common approved methods include:
- Public auction or sealed bid — equipment is offered for sale to the public
- Transfer to another governmental entity — equipment is transferred to another school district, city, county, or state agency
- Donation to a qualifying nonprofit — equipment may be donated to eligible organizations
- Recycling or disposal through an approved vendor — equipment is recycled or disposed of through a contracted service provider
The specific process varies by district policy, but the key requirement is that disposal is documented and approved through the proper channels — typically a board resolution or administrative approval.
Public Universities and Community Colleges
Texas public institutions of higher education follow surplus property procedures governed by the Texas State Comptroller’s Office and the institution’s own policies. State agencies and higher education institutions must follow the procedures outlined in the Texas Government Code, Chapter 2175 for disposing of surplus property. This often involves listing items through the state surplus property program or Texas Facilities Commission before pursuing other disposal methods.
Charter Schools
Texas charter schools are considered public schools and are generally subject to similar surplus property requirements, though the specific procedures may vary based on their charter agreement and governing board policies.
The practical takeaway: Before you dispose of any IT equipment, make sure your district or institution has formally declared it surplus through whatever process your board or administration requires. Document everything — the board approval, the inventory of items, and the final disposition method. This protects you in audits.
FERPA and Student Data: What You Need to Sanitize
FERPA (20 U.S.C. § 1232g) protects the privacy of student education records. While FERPA doesn’t prescribe specific technical methods for data destruction, it does require that schools protect student information from unauthorized disclosure — and that obligation doesn’t end when a device is retired.
Any device that has stored, processed, or accessed student data needs to be properly sanitized before disposal. This includes:
- Chromebooks and laptops used by students or staff
- Desktop computers in labs, classrooms, and offices
- Servers running SIS (Student Information Systems), LMS platforms, email, or file storage
- Networking equipment that may have stored configuration data, logs, or cached credentials
- Tablets and mobile devices used in instructional programs
- External storage — USB drives, backup drives, and portable media
Simply performing a factory reset or deleting user accounts is not sufficient for FERPA compliance. Data needs to be sanitized using methods that make recovery infeasible. The NIST 800-88 standard provides the framework most organizations follow for media sanitization — for a detailed breakdown, see our post on why deleting files isn’t enough.
For schools, obtaining a certificate of data destruction for every batch of sanitized devices provides a critical paper trail. If a FERPA audit or complaint ever arises, that certificate is your proof that student data was handled properly.
Chromebook Disposal: A Special Case
Chromebooks deserve their own section because they’re now the single most common device in K-12 education, and their disposal comes with specific considerations.
Deprovisioning from Google Admin
Before a Chromebook leaves your district, it must be deprovisioned from your Google Workspace for Education admin console. This releases the Chrome Enterprise license associated with the device so it can be reused. If you don’t deprovision, you’re essentially wasting a license — and the device may remain locked to your domain, making it useless to the next owner.
Factory Reset and Data Wipe
A Chromebook factory reset (powerwash) removes local user data and returns the device to its out-of-box state. Because Chromebooks store most data in the cloud and use encrypted local storage, a powerwash is generally considered adequate for data sanitization on Chromebooks — but only after deprovisioning. If the Chromebook was used offline or has downloaded files stored locally, additional scrutiny may be warranted.
Assessing Residual Value
Not all end-of-life Chromebooks are worthless. Devices that still receive Chrome OS updates and are in reasonable physical condition may have resale or donation value. Devices that have reached their Auto Update Expiration (AUE) date are typically worth less but may still be usable for basic purposes. Understanding where your fleet falls on this spectrum can help you decide whether to recycle, donate, or resell.
E-Rate Considerations
If your school or district purchased IT equipment using E-Rate funding (the federal Universal Service program administered by USAC), there are additional rules around disposal.
E-Rate-funded equipment must be used for its intended educational purpose for its useful life. If you dispose of E-Rate-funded equipment before its useful life has ended, you may need to return a prorated portion of the funding. The FCC generally considers the useful life of most IT equipment to be five years from the date of purchase.
After the useful life period has passed, you can dispose of E-Rate-funded equipment following your normal surplus property process. However, it’s good practice to document the original purchase date, E-Rate funding commitment, and disposal date to maintain a clean audit trail.
How GreenIT Pickup Works with Texas Schools
GreenIT Pickup provides free IT equipment pickup for schools and universities across the Dallas-Fort Worth area. We understand the specific requirements that educational institutions face, and we’ve built our process to make disposal as painless as possible for school IT teams.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
We come to you. Whether it’s one campus or twenty, we’ll schedule pickups that work with your academic calendar and facility access requirements. Summer breaks and holiday periods are popular times for school pickups, and we plan for that.
We handle the heavy lifting. Your IT staff doesn’t need to palletize, stage, or transport anything. We pull equipment from closets, labs, server rooms, and storage areas. We bring the manpower and the truck.
We sanitize storage media. All drives are processed following NIST 800-88 guidelines, and we provide certificates of data destruction for your records. This covers your FERPA compliance documentation.
We work within your surplus process. We understand that school districts need board approval and documentation for surplus disposal. We’ll provide whatever documentation your administration or purchasing department needs — pickup manifests, equipment inventories, destruction certificates, and disposition reports.
It’s free for qualifying pickups. The residual value of the equipment offsets the cost of pickup and processing. Your district doesn’t need to find budget for disposal.
A Practical Checklist for School IT Equipment Disposal
If you’re gearing up for an equipment disposal cycle, here’s a practical checklist to keep things on track:
Before pickup:
- Get formal surplus declaration from your board or administration
- Inventory all equipment to be disposed of (asset tags, serial numbers, locations)
- Deprovision Chromebooks from Google Admin
- Disconnect and remove devices from asset management systems
- Identify any E-Rate-funded equipment and verify useful life status
- Determine if any equipment is under active lease (leased equipment may need to be returned to the lessor)
- Notify campus principals or department heads about the pickup schedule
During pickup:
- Verify equipment against your inventory list as it’s loaded
- Obtain a signed pickup manifest from the service provider
- Document the condition and quantity of equipment being removed
After pickup:
- Obtain certificates of data destruction
- Update your asset management system to reflect disposed items
- File all documentation (board approval, inventory, manifests, certificates) for audit readiness
- Report disposal to your business office for fixed asset records
Ready to Clear Out the Closets?
If your school district or university has IT equipment that needs to go, GreenIT Pickup can help you do it the right way — compliant, secure, documented, and free.
Schedule a free school IT pickup →
We serve school districts and higher education institutions across the entire Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Whether you’re dealing with 50 Chromebooks or a full data center decommission, we’ve got the capacity and the process to handle it.
Have questions about surplus property rules, FERPA requirements, or E-Rate implications? Reach out — we’re happy to help you plan.
GreenIT Pickup is a DFW-based IT recycling and pickup service operated by FitzgeraldTech LLC. We provide free IT equipment removal for businesses, schools, and organizations across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, with a focus on responsible reuse, certified data destruction, and environmental sustainability.