At the end of a capitalized asset’s useful life, a public school can’t simply throw it away, nor can the devices be given away. NC General Statute 160A, Article 12 defines how cities and schools dispose of capitalized assets. Capitalized assets need to be declared by Board policy as surplus, and then sold. Some districts hold surplus sales in a warehouse at a predetermined date and time. Others use sites like GovDeals to list surplus materials for auction or sale.

Schools can donate devices to other schools, and other state and local agencies can donate property to a K-12 school/district. However, schools cannot simply donate devices to students. Some schools have held surplus sales where students can purchase computers for as little as $1. The devices must be wiped and loaded with a default install of the software that they shipped with (some districts use Ubermix as an alternative operating system) and the district is not allowed to provide support for the devices once they are no longer property of the district.

While capitalized assets must be sold, a district may, by policy, allow capitalized assets to be scrapped or disassembled for parts, or that individual parts may be disposed of as needed.