Best process to transfer device in an educational setting?

I am a new instructor taking over from someone who was retired. They used the Particle Photon for their class and I am trying to go through the labs.

The Photons are all telling me that they are linked to another account so I can't claim them. I tried going through a force claim process I saw in another post but that didn't work.

Is there anything I can do? Is this going to be the same problem every year with new students?

Thanks for the help!

There are instructions and best practices on the classroom setup page.

If you were unable to force claim a Photon 1 they are probably part of a product and you'll need to get access to that product in order to remove them.