LIVERMORE FALLS – Middle School Principal Ted Finn presented SAD 36 directors Thursday with a proposal to cover damage to student laptop computers leased from the state.

The board plans to review the plan before it takes action.

Directors voted to have the Policy Committee study whether a district rule requiring high school seniors to pay for damaged and lost books and other items assigned to them could be adapted for the middle school computer issue. They also discussed options on how a student could have access to computers but not take them home, if damage consistently occurs.

Finn said administrators have been told they could not get insurance for the leased Apple iBooks seventh- and eighth-graders are allowed to take home for school work. More than 92 percent of the damage done to computers happens outside of school, he said.

The cost to replace the older computers with newer models is about $800 a piece, he said.

The district cannot force parents to pay a user fee, Finn said, so he came to the board for help.

His plan calls for an annual $50 user fee per laptop, with a maximum of $80 per family, to cover accidental damage as defined by SAD 36, fire, natural disasters, power surges, theft and vandalism. It could be paid upfront, or half paid before the laptops are assigned in the first quarter, and the rest before the first day of the third quarter.

The damage plan for sixth-graders’ laptops, which are owned by the district and can’t be taken home, would have a $25 user fee, Finn said.

The money would go into an account specifically for laptop repair.

A parent or guardian would be given the option of paying the fee or accept full responsibility for the laptops if they were stolen, lost or damaged.

Laptops are not going to be released until Sept. 10, he said, but if the board needs more time it could be delayed.

The district has had laptops for 11 years.