Parents packed the Lower Merion School District meeting on Monday night to push for an opt-out option for the district’s policy requiring students to use “one-to-one” technology.
Currently, students from the fifth grade and up are given Chrome or MacBooks to be used for class instruction and homework, but some parents have signed a petition to have the district adopt an opt-out option. The parents say that the one-to-one technology negatively impacts their child’s education and does not guarantee privacy protections.
“Telling parents that opting out of devices means that they are opting out of curriculum is not a a good-faith response. It is a pressure tactic. It’s designed to silence parents with legitimate concerns with a district that cannot guarantee safety, privacy or outcomes.”
However, despite the public pushback, the district reaffirmed its one-to-one technology requirement at Monday’s meeting.
“It is not going to happen because in this district we are not set up to be able to provide individualized learning plans for students who do not have access to computers,” said Lower Merion School Board Director Anna Shurak.