Though we had some delays, our distribution of Chromebooks to students grades 6-12 is very nearly complete. As it is only our second year utilizing one-to-one technology, there are still many questions about how this process works. I’ve tried to address those questions below.
Why are our students being assigned Chromebooks?
The skills our students need to be successful in the world today are creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical-thinking. Moving more and more of our instructional work to the Chromebooks, including having them available for take home, allows us to engage those skills in many ways.
Why did I have to pay $20? Am I paying for the Chromebook?
Our school’s use of Chromebooks is a instructional choice funded by our taxpaying base. They are on a replacement schedule that will be sustained by the technology fee assessed in book rental. We are self-insured against incidental damages, which means we pool all the $20 fees collected through One2One Risk so we can fix bevels, screens, motherboards, etc. What we asked you to do in registering and paying the $20 fee is agree to be part of this program. We cannot entrust the Chromebooks that belong to the school* to the students 24-hours a day unless we have this agreement of how damage is handled.
We strive to keep this fee as low as possible so it isn’t unnecessarily burdensome to families. If we had more damage than one would expect, the waiver fee will increase for next year. There are other schools that require more than $20 due to higher breakage rates.
How does this waiver program encourage students to take good care of their devices?
Keeping the Chromebooks in good working order is necessary for our educational purposes as well as honoring that commitment of tax dollars. Even though there is a damage waiver program, students that have damage also pay a deductible – this helps encourage responsible care while the program dampens the financial blow of a Chromebook accident for families.
What is One2One Risk Solutions?
One2One Risk is a vendor that administers our program – they also handle the program at many surrounding schools. If a claim is made on a device registered to your child, it will be One2One that reaches out and helps you get the claim completed.
Do we need to pay to enter the program if we receive free or reduced lunch?
Yes. If your child receives free or reduced lunch, we are reimbursed by the state for their lunches and for their book rental, but not for this program.
*When something “belongs to the school” it is with the understanding that the school is an entity representing the community. We take good care of the school and everything that belongs to the school in part because our community paid for it. We do our best to honor that.