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Peninsula district previews shift to MacBooks, tighter in‑school device policy and new tech facilitator
Summary
District technology staff told the board they will recommend switching student devices from Chromebooks to MacBooks next year, add a technology instructional facilitator, limit K–4 devices going home, and increase monitoring and reporting to parents; formal approval and financing will come next month.
District instructional and operational technology leads presented an update on classroom device use and a preview of recommended changes for 2026–27.
Chris Hagel and John Yellowlees said parent and staff contacts about classroom technology have increased, and the district is prioritizing purposeful instruction over passive screen time. The district plans to hire a technology instructional facilitator to support teachers with Universal Design for Learning practices and to better align device use with adopted curricula.
On hardware, staff reported recent Chromebook price volatility and said a newly announced Apple MacBook offers a better long‑term fit for instruction and may deliver lifecycle savings. Hagel said the district informed teachers and is finalizing financing; the recommendation to move to MacBooks will come to the board for formal approval the following month. Staff stressed they are still negotiating financing and will not commit to final numbers until contracts are complete.
Operational policy changes previewed include reassigning kindergarten iPads to higher grades where instructional use is greater, recommending that K–4 devices not go home unless there is an explicit instructional reason, and restricting student personal devices in high schools so classrooms use district‑supported hardware only. Staff said monitoring and classroom‑management tools will be available on MacBooks as they are for Chromebooks, and the district will add resources and teacher training before rollout.
Board members asked about tech support for the change. Staff said most teachers already use Macs (reported as ~95% in the presentation), that monitoring tools will work on the Mac platform, and that the district will provide additional coaching and summer preparation work for teachers. A financing and procurement action will be brought to the board next month for approval.
