71 iPads 'Presumed Stolen' After LAUSD Rollout

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Officials with the Los Angeles Unified School District are trying to track down 71 missing iPads that were distributed to students, according to reports.

Superintendent John Deasy told KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO the iPads were part of last year's 13-campus trial program and are "presumed stolen."

Since then, the school district has distributed about 14,000 of the roughly $700 tablets to students district-wide.

Officials said that despite the missing tablets — nearly all of which were distributed at one campus — new security measures have since been put in place to prevent future losses, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Despite the latest setback for the $1 billion program, Deasy said the loss rate for the iPads is relatively low.

"The reality is we have far more loss every night from people stealing copper from our schools than we do from technology," Deasy said.

The report comes days after it was revealed that iPads taken home by students at three local schools were hacked for non-school-related purposes.

Students at Roosevelt, Westchester High, and the Valley Academy of Arts and Sciences in Granada Hills disabled security measures on their iPads to access Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other unauthorized sites, according to the Daily News.

At the Valley Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1,200 iPads were distributed last year, 69 of which were not returned, the Times reported.