WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP — Families in Washington Township are voicing concerns about a new technology policy for middle schoolers, which allows seventh and eighth graders to bring their Chromebooks home. Previously, students could only access the devices during school hours.
Brooke DeRam is a long-time member of the Washington Township Schools community. She has four kids in the district.
"We don’t want our kids to be on it all day long," DeRam said.
She recalled past difficulties when her boys used Chromebooks in sixth and seventh grades.
"We had a lot of behavior issues, lack of focus, a lot of in-the-hallway usage of Chromebooks," DeRam stated.
When she heard about the revised plan for this year, she wasn't happy.
"I don't think that kids in seventh and eighth grade need to have that much dependence on technology," DeRam said.
Other parents share similar worries.
Lindsay Kusy, who has a seventh grader at Northview Middle School, believes the district is reversing progress made in educational practices.
"We’ve been touting this great movement and now we’re going backwards," Kusy said. "And there's not really a good reason for it."
Kusy has witnessed the benefits of reduced technology use in classrooms. Her now high-schooler attended Northview Middle School when Chromebooks remained in carts in each classroom.
"Social-emotionally, they were growing," Kusy said. "They were having conversations. Teachers were moving away from relying on technology and going back to what the research is showing works, with books and actually paper, pencil kind of things."
Concerned about the implications of the 1:1 Chromebook policy, Kusy started a petition. She is asking the district for a pause on the rollout or to allow families to opt out.
That petition has already gotten over 120 signatures.
"If you ask parents, they don’t want it," Kusy emphasized.
In response to inquiries regarding the new policy, Washington Township Schools provided a statement emphasizing that the change aims to enhance students' access to digital tools and to account for the increasing emphasis on digital resources in the curriculum.
They also pointed to the state's emphasis on STEM education, new testing requirements and the district's commitment to STEAM.
Despite the district's justification, parents like DeRam and Kusy remain unconvinced.
DeRam suggested that investing in more classroom carts could be a better solution than providing individual devices.
"I’m still not sure that it doesn't make sense to just buy more for carts," she said.
Kusy pointed to other districts that have opted against a 1:1 Chromebook policy but still achieve high academic scores.
"That’s pretty telling," she remarked.
Kusy and fellow parents plan to present their concerns at the upcoming school board meeting on August 13.
