By Ashley Du, Zara Samdani, and Faith Zantua, Staff Reporter, Co-Managing Editor, and Co-News Editor
This year, the school board, district and community have discussed implementing policy regarding appropriate use of computers, phones and artificial intelligence at school.The district has also mentioned possible standardizations for phone holders, hosted workshops and created a workgroup for researching generative AI.
Initially presented by director of educational program Dr. Michael Szymendera alongisde other school administration at the Jan. 9 education committee meeting, the original plan included phasing in the mandated use of district-issued devices with each new class of freshmen and starting with the Class of 2029. At the meeting’s conclusion, the committee suggested accelerating the process, removing the option of only using “bring your own devices” (BYOD) for all Conestoga students starting in the 2025-26 school year.
“It’s a little strange to have a rule that you can’t have a cell phone out during class but you can have a personal laptop that’s not really managed by the district because the difference between those two things is vanishing, particularly if you have an iPhone and if you have a MacBook,” Szymendera said at the education meeting. “The majority of our students who bring their own device to school bring a MacBook.”
Szymendera sent an email to all Conestoga guardians on Feb. 4 confirming the accelerated rule’s implementation. In the weeks before the education meeting, he emailed current eighth grade families to inform them of the possibility.
Szymendera oversees the district technology department, with approximately 22 members overall, consisting of the Network and Security, IT Support, Instructional Technology and Information Services teams. They look into technology initiatives for all district schools, aid with issues and advise administration on related policy.
Although students had access periodically to devices such as laptops and iPads before 2020, Szymendera said that the COVID-19 pandemic increased the integration of technological use across the district with K-12 students attending online classes. With the district’s current updated 1:1 Technology Initiative, K-4 students can have an iPad and case, fifth to eighth graders can access laptops, and ninth to 12th graders can use laptops or BYOD.
Conestoga first offered BYOD as an alternative to district-owned devices during the 2015-16 school year, phasing in the option with each new class of freshmen. The reasons behind advocating for its discontinuation include BYOD creating distractions; staff being unable to resolve technology issues with BYOD; the devices having functionality problems; and BYOD providing access to applications that are not easily available to district laptops and can lead to academic dishonesty.
With the change, students must bring a district-issued device with them for school. Conestoga department chairs discussed their thoughts on BYOD with Szymendera and principal Dr. Amy Meisinger before the education meeting. Szymendera said BYOD use was “widely unpopular within the school, with the adults at least,” at the education meeting.
Computer science teacher Kim McPhillips feels that BYOD users in her classes can get distracted with access to applications that are banned on district-issued devices. She also said that it can be harder to help them with potential issues.
“I have seen specifically students using MacBooks to send text messages, and that can be a distraction because it’s the same reason that I require phones to be away,” McPhillips said. “Some students have a little bit of trouble just installing (initial programs), and with the BYOD, I can’t really help them. So if they’re strug gling, if it’s not working, there’s nothing I can do, unfortunately. Whereas with the school laptop, I can pretty much guarantee that we can make it work.”
Ashley Du can be reached at [email protected].
Zara Samdani can be reached at [email protected].
Faith Zantua can be reached at [email protected].
