On April 16 during the T/E Education Committee meeting, school board members decided that students in grades K-4 will no longer be allowed to bring their iPads home starting the 2026-27 school year. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the T/E School District issued take-home devices for elementary and kindergarten students. According to the Education Committee minutes linked on the district website, kindergarten students will no longer have their own individual iPads. Instead, kindergarten classes will have a few iPads kept in the classroom for station work. The district will continue to issue individual iPads for elementary school students in grades one through four, however they will not be allowed to take them home. Dr. Michael Szymendera, TESD Director of Educational Program, helped shape TESD’s new elementary school iPad policy and said the policy change occured after conversations with community members and school staff that raised concerns such as increased screen usage.
“We’re increasingly hearing voices in the parent community that would like students to have less time or less access to devices,” Parker said. “So if we can teach intentionally and in meaningful ways without needing to send home those devices, we’re doing our part to reduce (the) time that students spend in front of them.”
According to Dr. Todd Parker, principal of Devon Elementary School, TESD consulted administrators and teachers when it decided to change the iPad policy.
“I think mostly conversations with parents and getting more of a sense from the community that this was an issue that they would like to see some change (inspired T/E to revise its iPad policy),” Szymendera said. “Then also talking with teachers and building administrators about what they’re experiencing in their classrooms and in the school, this seemed like a good time to make some changes.”
In addition, the board proposed a packet plan for flexible-instruction days (FID), or when students are not expected to come to school. Since elementary schools will not be able to operate with the assumption that students have a device at home, the board proposed that teachers provide their students with a packet or a folder of materials to work on at home when students cannot get direct, in person instruction. While the new iPad policy will go into effect next school year, Szymendera said that it is uncertain if the district can implement the packet plan by September without revisions.
“That plan has to be approved by the state, and there’s no deadline when the state has to approve,” Szymendera said. “We might need to give additional information or make some modifications, but I don’t think we would expect it to go into the (2026-27) school year without having it in place.”
While Szymendera supports reduced iPad use, freshman Naomi Lee worries about the impact a lack of take-home devices will have on homework. Lee regularly helps her sister in third grade with homework.
“I think (homework will) be a little bit harder because a lot of the stuff is done online. They make you read books online. They also have a bunch of apps where you watch videos for homework,” Lee said. “So, that’s obviously very different.”
Eden Anderson can be reached at [email protected].
