Parents press review of K–6 1-to-1 Chromebook policy; committee sends policy review to subcommittee
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Summary
Multiple parents and staff urged the Chariho committee to reconsider one-to-one device use for elementary students during the March 10 meeting; the committee voted to send the district's 1-to-1 policy to the policy subcommittee and requested a cost estimate for devices and licenses.
Parents, students and staff used the March 10 public forum and budget discussion to criticize heavy early-grade technology use and to urge replacing some digital materials with books and workbooks. Speakers described losses to the school experience—drama, library and specialized instruction—and warned that removal of support positions would drive families away.
Multiple residents asked the committee to eliminate or scale back kindergarten-through-sixth-grade 1-to-1 Chromebooks. Jennifer Sylvia, a district employee who identified herself at the podium, urged more book-based learning and proposed removing 1-to-1 Chromebooks for grades 1–6 to reduce costs and improve foundational skills. Parents with autistic children and other special-needs students said screen-heavy classrooms can be overstimulating for their children and cautioned that cuts to counseling and related services would have outsized effects.
The superintendent cautioned that device and curriculum choices intersect with state testing requirements: "if you have kids walk in and have never seen a computer, and then they're told you're taking the state test, talk about your scores going in the toilet," legal counsel and administrators noted. Rather than enact an immediate district-wide removal, the committee voted to direct the policy subcommittee to review the 1-to-1 policy and asked staff to prepare a comprehensive cost estimate for K–6 devices, licensing and textbook alternatives before any major policy change.
Action: the committee approved a motion to have the policy subcommittee review the 1-to-1 policy and asked administration to compile cost figures for devices and licenses; at least one abstention was recorded.
