> This means the ThinkPad X131e had under 3 years of support if you bought it brand new like many school districts did in 2015.
The ThinkPad X131e Chromebook was originally released in February 2013 [1] and has received five years of Chrome OS updates from Google. From March 2017 onwards, new Chrome OS devices receive 6.5 years of support [2] and in November 2019 many received a further year of support on top of that [3] so the update situation is a lot better than it was.
School districts purchasing X131e Chromebooks would have known at the time of purchase that they would stop receiving updates in February 2018 [4]. Being two plus years into their lifecycle is not really Google's fault. The districts need to do better due diligence.
As you mentioned, EOL dates for all Chrome OS devices are published in an article on Google's website [5]. To get the most life out of a particular Chromebook model it needs to purchased as close to launch day as possible. That's what I always try to do when purchasing Chromebooks where I work.
It's also worth mentioning that the X131e is supported by Neverware's CloudReady until 2025 [6] so the Chromebooks don't have to be thrown away when Google stops supporting them.
[1] http://www.notebookreview.com/news/lenovo-releases-thinkpad-...
[2] https://chromeunboxed.com/googles-end-of-life-policy-for-chr...
[3] https://www.androidpolice.com/2019/11/05/google-gives-most-c...
[4] https://web.archive.org/web/20151120005811/https://support.g...
[5] https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6220366?hl=en
[6] https://guide.neverware.com/supported-devices/#LenovoThinkpa...
