“We need more storage on the server?” asked the district’s network engineer. He reached into a cardboard box. It contained the second-hand hard drives. These donations had come from the nearby Air Force base in years past. Appalled, I did my best to not scoff at his approach to upgrades. He smiled, an apology in his voice. “I haven’t been given much of an equipment budget.” At that moment, I knew what I needed to do to ensure success in my district: I would need to focus on the equipment replacement plan. Many districts put it aside until it’s a budget-devouring behemoth. Let’s take a look at one approach I took as a technology director to ensure campuses had needed technology that avoided upgrading from donated equipment.

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