Log a repair

Log a repair every time a device is fixed, even a $0 one, so repair reports don't depend on ticket notes. You can add a repair from three places, and they all open the same Add repair form:

• A device's page: Actions, then Add Repair, or Add Repair on its Repairs tab.
• A ticket: Actions on a linked device, then Add repair.
• Assets: tick devices, then Add Repair... to log the same repair on each.

You need Add assets (assets.create), which also lets you charge a fee on the repair. Moving the fine along afterwards (Mark assessed, Mark paid) needs Manage fines (fines.manage); see Fines.

The form#

• Repair type. Pick from your repair types, or add one.
• Repair cost. What the repair costs your district. It fills in from the type's default; $0 is fine.
• What happened? A few words from the tech: "Spilled soda on the keyboard", "Dropped it on the bus".
• Damage. Accidental, Deliberate, Maintenance or Not sure. See below.
• Assess a fee to the user. Charge the device's person a fine, with its amount. See below.
• Time to Repair and Notes, both optional.

The damage type#

Once the tech types what happened, AI suggests Accidental, Deliberate, Maintenance or Not sure, with a one-line reason. The suggestion arrives already selected. If it's wrong, select another choice: one click. What's selected when you save is what counts.

The AI reads the description, and for a single device its age (from the purchased date, or the deployed date when there's none), its type and model, and the repair type picked. It classifies the cause the description states and nothing else: it never judges the student, and it says Not sure when the description doesn't say how the damage happened ("cracked screen", "won't charge").

• "Spilled soda on the keyboard" suggests Accidental.
• "Took the iPad in the bath" suggests Deliberate: anyone would expect that to break it.
• "Hinge came loose on its own" on a four-year-old Chromebook suggests Maintenance. On a one-year-old one it suggests Not sure: AI suggests Maintenance only for a device at least your wear-and-tear age (3 years unless you change it on Admin › People › Fines). When you log a repair on several devices at once, their ages aren't read, so it never suggests Maintenance then; choose it yourself.
• "Screen is broken" suggests Not sure.

schoolOS keeps the suggestion and whether the tech changed it, so you can tell how often the AI is right. The repair shows the final choice on the device's Repairs tab, its history, and the person's Repairs & Fines. Otto's repair answers include it too.

Turn the suggestion off on Admin › Account › AI Features, under Damage type. With it off, nothing is sent to AI and the tech just picks. Repairs logged before this existed read Not sure and show no label.

Which should I choose?#

| Choice | Choose it when | Out of the box, a fee is | | --- | --- | --- | | Accidental | A drop, a spill, a fall: something nobody meant. | Free while the person has a free repair left, then charged. | | Deliberate | The device was damaged on purpose, or used in a way anyone would expect to break it. | Always charged. | | Maintenance | Normal wear and tear on an older device: a worn hinge, a battery that won't hold a charge. | Never charged. | | Not sure | Nobody knows how it happened yet. | Never charged. |

Your account can change what each type does on Admin › People › Fines. See Repair fees and free repairs.

Charge a fee, or use a free repair#

Turn on Assess a fee to the user and enter the amount. A fine always belongs to a person, so when nobody has the device, Who pays appears: pick the person to charge, and the repair and its fine go to them. Logging a repair on several devices at once charges each device's person, and a device nobody has is logged without a fee. The form tells you what will happen before you save:

• "Free repair 1 of 1 this school year. The fee will be waived." The repair is saved with no fine and shows that reason.
• "Wear and tear: not charged. The fee will be waived." The damage type is Never charged. No free repair is used.
• "No free repairs left this school year." The fee applies and the fine goes to Admin › People › Fines.
• "Repairs marked Deliberate are always charged."

Change the damage type and the line updates. When you log a repair on many devices at once, each person gets their own count: a student with two devices uses two free repairs.

For example, a middle school tech gets a Chromebook with a sticky keyboard. She types "Spilled soda on the keyboard", sees Accidental suggested, turns on the $25 fee and reads "Free repair 1 of 1 this school year". She saves: the student owes nothing, and their profile shows Free repairs used 1 of 1.

Edit a repair#

Got something wrong? On the device's Repairs tab, select the repair, or its Edit button (the pencil, beside delete). The same form opens with what was logged; change it and select Save changes. You need Add assets (assets.create), as logging it does.

• Repair type, Repair cost, What happened?, Damage, Time to Repair and Notes can all change. A repair type you've since removed stays selected until you pick another.
• The fee was decided when the repair was logged. Changing the cost or the damage type doesn't charge, waive or re-count a free repair, and the form says so.
• Changing the fee (turning it on or off, or its amount) needs Manage fines (fines.manage), and changes the repair's fine on Fines too. Without it, the fee shows but can't be changed.
• A paid fee stays as it is. To change it, move it back to Assessed from the fee on the repair first. A waived fee isn't charged by editing either.

Saving says Repair updated with Undo, which puts back what you changed (not offered when you changed the fee: move the fine back from its fee instead). The device's history shows the edit, like "Repair edited: Screen Replacement — cost $25.00 → $40.00", and the change is in your audit log.

Deleting a repair (the trash can beside Edit) removes it and its fee, and the device's history keeps a line for it, like "Repair deleted: Screen Replacement — $25.00", with who deleted it and when.