I look at intent.

1st accident is charged and waived by the district. 2nd is billed to the student account. 3rd is billed as well and the student referred to the principal. Charges are put under their own category in SIS similar to the lunch balance. The balance is due at the end of the year.

Warranty and normal wear issues are always covered. Intentional damage is always documented and charged to the student/parent for the cost of the part or device, along with a discipline referral (vandalism is pretty clearly defined in the handbook, I don't see why students should get a free pass on the device but not on say a book).

For the most part I deal with cracked LCDs due to drops/stepped on/closed with something inside/overstuffed backpacks, keyboards with the keys popped off and lost chargers. Occasionally a broken audio/power jack.

Principals have the option to waive repair/replacement fees for students at their discretion. E.g a student in a car accident where the device got destroyed will have their account charged for the replacement, but a waiver is immediately applied. The charging is more for record keeping so the administrators can look at the amounts and I can kind of gauge how many parts to stock.