Coachella Valley Unified School District students were able to turn in their old iPads this week in exchange for new ones.

Nearly 25,000 devices will be traded this week in the “Touchless Trade-in Event” at the school district.

The event is managed by Second Life Mac, a company that buys and refurbishes Apple devices. The company made a deal with CVUSD worth at least $850,000.

During these drive-in’s, Second Life Mac sends students with school-owned devices a unique QR code via their iPad. On the day of the Touchless Trade-in™ event, students or parents drive up and show the QR code, which is scanned by a Second Life Mac representative wearing personal protective equipment. The QR code identifies the student and the device. The student places the old device on a conveyor belt, where it is received by a rep and placed in a box. New devices are handed out by another rep.

When a box of used devices is full, a representative from Second Life Mac seals it and sends it back to the company’s warehouse, where the devices are sanitized, all data is removed to Department of Defense standards, and devices are refurbished. If a device cannot be refurbished, it is recycled with zero e-waste in landfills.

“For Coachella Valley USD, having a Touchless Trade-In program in the midst of a pandemic was crucial,” said Israel Oliveros, director of technology services for Coachella Valley USD. “Our team evaluated many options and discovered that Second Life Mac was willing to partner with our school district to offer a solution that maintained the emphasis on keeping students and staff safe during the collection and deployment of iPad. Second Life Mac is definitely leading the way for device trade-in programs during a very challenging time for our district.”

“The need for up-to-date digital learning devices has never been so crucial now that most students are learning remotely,” said Paula Currie, vice president of procurement for Second Life Mac. “Many schools feel stuck with old devices because they are afraid to take them back due to the pandemic. We have solved this problem for them. The key is to order new Apple devices as soon as possible, as supply chain issues continue to impact delivery.”

CVUSD holds drive-thru iPad “refresh” for students