Use Of Chromebooks In Guilford Schools Draws Concern

By Jack Kramer, Correspondent

GUILFORD, CT – The use of Chromebooks in the Guilford public schools has been the subject of discussion at two recent meetings of the Board of Education. A Chromebook is a laptop using the Google Chrome browser, with most applications and data residing in the cloud rather on the machine itself.

At the Nov. 13th meeting of the Board of Education, a parent told the board that she was at the meeting representing a group of approximately 80 parents and medical professionals “who have concerns related to the effect of electronic device use and technology on youths.”

She said the group’s mission is to help families and schools make informed decisions regarding technology use to provide children “with a healthy environment.”

Another parent who spoke at the meeting said while she values technology she is also aware of its potential dangers. She said she believes it is important for technology “to be used in a thoughtful, educational manner” but had concerns that it can “also be over-used or mis-used.”

She said she was concerned that the Chromebooks were being used for other purposes than education by some of the students. She questioned if the school board was considered any changes to its policies to safeguard the uses of the devices and/or provide an opt-out option for their use.

Board of Education Chairman William Bloss noted that a special workshop meeting was slated just to talk about technology.

At that special meeting, which was held on Nov. 27th, the discussion continued on the use of Chromebooks by students in grades 5-12.

One of the administrators who oversees the Chromebook program, Kevin Mitchell, said he is looking into other software options that would provide more district and parental control over the technology.