Re: theft, when I was in high school, if you didn't return your textbooks or returned them in in poor condition you were billed for their replacement cost and were not allowed to graduate until you settled the bill. I imagine the system would be much the same with iPads.
1) What if the family can't afford it? Do you just deny them graduation?
2) I'm not necessarily saying that they get stolen when they go home. A room full of iPads just sitting there over the summer is a very tempting target for thieves.
To your first point, yes, that's how it worked. You don't pay, you don't get a diploma. I personally had to pay something like $120 to replace a physics textbook that I apparently didn't return at some point, despite the numerous angles 18-year-old me tried to play to get out of it.
To the second, most school districts, as far as I know, have central warehouses for textbooks, so why wouldn't at least a portion of a warehouse be converted to secure iPad storage?
