{"id":281420,"date":"2026-09-08T12:16:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T12:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/281420\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T12:16:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T12:16:07","slug":"lower-merion-schools-begin-new-chromebook-policy-as-district-leaders-face-federal-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/281420\/","title":{"rendered":"Lower Merion schools begin new Chromebook policy as district leaders face federal lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">LOWER MERION, Pa. (WPVI) &#8212; The Lower Merion School District is beginning a new technology policy for students as district leaders face a federal lawsuit aimed at reinstating part of the old policy to opt out of using school-issued internet-connected devices.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The parents who are suing are accusing district leaders of allowing what they&#8217;re calling &#8220;a digital free-for-all&#8221; with the use of laptops in and out of the classroom.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The district says it&#8217;s going for a balanced learning experience.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The new technology policy gradually introduces the use of Chromebooks into the classroom as students get older, followed by integrating use for homework.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">About 8,500 kids go to school in the Lower Merion School District, where the board adopted the new tech policy last month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">RELATED: <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/6abc.com\/post\/chromebook-controversy-lower-merion-pa-parents-ask-opt-children-using-devices-247\/18930127\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> Chromebook controversy: Lower Merion parents ask to opt children out of using devices 24\/7<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The process of getting there involved several school board meetings, which were heated at times by those who believe devices are being used too much for learning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Starting Tuesday, for the first day of school, a laptop or iPad isn&#8217;t assigned until 5th grade, according to the district policy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Parents can choose if they want their kids to bring it home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">By 7th grade, the district says students are encouraged, but not required, to bring Chromebooks home as necessary for assignments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Back in June, the school board <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/6abc.com\/post\/chromebook-controversy-continues-lower-merion-school-board-votes-change-tech-policy\/19306037\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">repealed a longstanding policy<\/a> that allowed parents to refuse internet-connected devices for their kids all together.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">A group of 10 parents are suing in federal court after filing the lawsuit on August 31, asking a judge to restore that policy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Their argument is that exposure to school-issued technology in and out of the classroom supports addictive habits, and that they want the option again of choosing a more traditional learning style.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">The district has reportedly denied the allegations in the lawsuit and said it will respond further as the lawsuit unfolds in federal court.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOWER MERION, Pa. (WPVI) &#8212; The Lower Merion School District is beginning a new technology policy for students&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[117612,183,185,184,186],"class_list":["post-281420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lower-merion","tag-117612","tag-lower-merion","tag-lower-merion-headlines","tag-lower-merion-news","tag-lower-merion-township"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}