Miranda Eisman, a parent with two children at Cherry Crest Elementary School, told the Bellevue School District Board that she has grown concerned about the district's use of educational technology and the district-issued, internet-connected devices provided to students.

Eisman said she worked with a consulting group, the EdTech Law Center, and outlined four harms she believes are tied to widespread EdTech use: student privacy risks (including third-party data sharing and increased vulnerability to cyberattacks); legal-consent issues where young children are asked to accept user agreements; displacement of essential developmental learning activities by screens; and negative effects on teaching practice, with companies promoting the teacher as a "guide on the side." She said a second grader at her school was asked to sign a user agreement, and contended "7 year olds cannot provide meaningful legal consent."

Eisman said the district uses thousands of EdTech tools and that many applications have data and privacy issues. "The average school district uses over 2,000 EdTech tools and nearly all are plagued with data and privacy issues," she said. She also raised learning concerns, noting research that suggests students often learn and retain information better from printed materials than from screens and criticizing policies that reduce printing in favor of device use.

No district response to her comments was given during public comment; board members listened and continued with the agenda. Eisman asked the board to review the district's EdTech practices with attention to privacy, consent and classroom learning trade-offs.