Confused Kindergarteners Prompt Change in School Laptop Policy

Understanding the Lower Merion School District's newly revised six-page laptop use policy is difficult enough for adult, non-lawyers, but imagine trying to comprehend it when you are still learning to read.

The school district will begin handing out laptops on Tuesday, Sept. 21 to students in the one-to-one program, and parents of some young elementary school children have been asking how to explain what the school's policy means.

Lower Merion Director of Information Systems George Frazier reported to the School Board of Directors two technology updates at the Sept. 13 and Sept. 20 meetings, outlining the district's plans to improve communication on laptop policies.

The district's laptop policy, known as policy 134 includes language difficult for young children to understand, such as the Special Rules for District Issued Laptops 5.c, "At no time will any District employee look at or review the student's files storied on the Laptop except as follows … pursuant to a signed consent form that clearly and conspicuously sets forth the ability of the district to access or review such files," etc.

"We recognize that policy 134 is very heavy in legal jargon," Frazier said. In response to parents' questions about how to explain the document to their young children, the district formulated a special presentation for kids in elementary school to explain the computer rules.

"We drafted a presentation on policy 134 in very kid friendly language that will explain the content of that policy," Frazier said. "It will also be repurposed and redrafted for parents to use at home when explaining the policy to their kids."

In 2010, every student regardless of grade was required to sign the document along with their parent or guardian, but going forward, the district will only require elementary school students' parents or guardians to sign, Frazier said.

The goal of having each child sign the policy in the first place was to promote a dialogue between the parents and their children about the policy before computers are distributed, Frazier said. While the administrator said he hopes that the discussion will continue, the district felt requiring the youngest students to sign was not necessary.

"The district has mailed over 7000 letters to homes," Superintendent Chris McGinley said. "It's no surprise we've had some confusion and concern on the communications side." McGinley also said that the district made mistakes in the way the policy was communicated at home, and suggested potentially revising the way it is initially presented to parents and students to include a friendly language and format to accompany the precise, legal document.

According to the Superintendent, the district is also doing well in getting the forms returned, and McGinley said no students have asked the district not to use a laptop at all. "The principals are on top of this, Internet safety workshops are being conducted as a requirement before issuing any laptops," McGinley said.

The school district has a technology policy review scheduled for January, 2011 where changes could be discussed on any of the school's computer policies. A survey is also being distributed this week to students, teachers, parents and guardians to gauge how well the policies are working.

Frazier encouraged anyone with questions about the district's laptop policies contact him by email at frazier@lmsd.org or phone at 610-645-1925.