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Parent urges clearer Chromebook opt-out process after denied doctor's note
Summary
Rachel Hartsell, a Carmel Clay parent, told the school board that her kindergarten son was assigned a district Chromebook without prior notice, said a doctor's note requesting the device stay at school was denied, and asked the district to make opt-out options clearer in PowerSchool, provide research on device use, and hold community forums.
Rachel Hartsell, a Carmel Clay parent, used the public-comment period to press the school board for clearer Chromebook opt-out procedures and greater transparency in PowerSchool.
Hartsell said her oldest kindergarten son brought home a district-assigned Chromebook at the start of the school year with “no prior preparation or communication.” She described repeated efforts to secure an accommodation after the device contributed to backpack weight she estimated at 20 to 25 percent of her child's body weight — above American Academy of Pediatrics guidance that backpacks weigh no more than 10 to 15 percent of a student's body weight — and said a doctor's note requesting the Chromebook remain at school was denied.
"To have such a huge responsibility unceremoniously dropped in a parent and very young student without proper communication does not set up a successful parent-school partnership," Hartsell said.
Hartsell said district staff eventually told her she could decline the Technology Consent Form in PowerSchool but that the district had no direct opt-out function there; instead, staff required a separate, specially signed Adobe document. "I had to have five different conversations before I was finally told I could simply decline the Technology Consent Form in PowerSchool," she said, adding that the extra steps were an inefficient use of parents' and staff time.
She asked the board for three changes: that the district provide clear explanations of how devices will be used and the research supporting their use for young learners; that PowerSchool display an explicitly labeled option to refuse district-issued devices without extra paperwork; and that the district host community forums to revisit device-policy decisions.
The presiding officer thanked Hartsell for her time; board members did not respond substantively during the public-comment period and noted that the board generally takes comments under advisement rather than acting during the meeting.
