- April 25, 2024
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As the start to the school year inches closer, school officials are working to cement a policy for the 3,900 laptops that will soon be in the hands of high school students.
In July, the Flagler County School Board approved leasing and distributing the computers. Now, a few questions remain. Among them: What if students break their laptops? What if they already have personal computers at home and want to use those instead?
Regarding the first question, the district plans to offer an optional insurance program for a $50 liability fee, which would be reduced to $10 for students who receive free school meals and $20 for those who receive reduced-price school meals, based on their families’ incomes. Hardship exemptions would also be available.
Under that plan, students would pay $100 the first time their MacBook Air is broken or damaged. The second time, the cost would increase to $150. After two strikes, the student is responsible for costs of fixing or replacing the machine.
The liability fee is optional, however. Students whose families choose not to pay the fee will be known as “day users,” and will check their laptops in and out at the beginning and end of each day.
Families who do not wish to incur the added liability of having the machines in their homes on evenings and weekends can request that their students become day users as well.
Of course, much of the students’ coursework will be computer-based, part of a statewide effort to make all digital coursework digital by 2015. But the programs and documents students need to do their work at home will be available through cloud-based software, so students will be able to access the files they need from home, as long as they have a computer and Internet connection.
Board member Trevor Tucker questioned during a Tuesday workshop how efficient the day-use option would be if a lot of families decided to use it.
“If you have 500 kids trying to check out a computer before school starts, there’ll be a line like the buses,” Tucker said. “How are we going to work with that?”
Also problematic, Tucker said, is finding a system to charge the computers if students are not bringing them home nightly.
Technology Director Ryan Deising said he did not anticipate very many students using the check-out system, and that the specifics might need to be determined as the computers are rolled out to students during the first several weeks of school. Then, staff can better gauge what needs for the program.
School Board member Colleen Conklin said she has already received inquiries from parents whose children already own laptops. Rather than dealing with two machines, those families have asked that their children be allowed to bring their own devices.
Deisling said this is an option he would like to offer in the future, but that during the first year of the program, doing so would be unwise. The program’s launch has enough kinks that need solving already; adding personal computers would add more, such as compatibility and security issues, he said.
Also, district attorney Kristy Gavin said, students would need to allow district staff to examine their personal computers before they were allowed at school.
Board Chairman Andy Dance suggested that, rather than complicating the process more, the district first roll out the school-issued laptops and then focus on a bring-your-own device policy as a second phase.
With less than two weeks until school starts, the School Board decided to review the written laptop policies individually and then submit any questions they have to Deising. Then, the board will try to further refine its rules at its next workshop, 5 p.m. Aug. 20.
