By Reid Heavner,
Staff Writer.
In a year already riddled with colossal changes and questions over new policies, the Santa Rosa City Schools District has made yet another mistake: failing to supply enough Chromebooks. Many students, primarily incoming ninth graders, were left without access to Chromebooks for multiple weeks at the beginning of the school year. While the library was supplied with significantly fewer Chromebooks than it should’ve been, the core issue lies with students.
SRHS librarian Joanna Kiesel suggested that the shortage was linked to destructive tendencies of students. “There is a severely high rate of breakage for younger students,” said Kiesel. “The middle school actually has the most breakage, and I think that’s part of the issue.” Because of this breakage, we don’t have enough to go around.
Admittedly, the shortage is worsened by our district’s recent budget cuts. “The district has not purchased new Chromebooks for the last few years. But a lot of it has to do with budgetary issues,” said Kiesel. Chromebook shortages have been common in recent years; the problem isn’t a new one.
Classes have experienced severe disruptions because of students without Chromebooks. Math teacher Cynthia Ingram said, “I definitely use Google Classroom, and I had a big concern about the equity of it, that not every kid had one.” Students and teachers alike are forced to improvise when they can’t access all necessary materials.
Despite the issues surrounding Chromebook supply, multiple solutions are in the works. Since much of the problem is caused by junior high students destroying their Chromebooks, the library may stop issuing them Chromebooks. Instead, each classroom would have a cart of communal Chromebooks for use only while in class. Refurbished Chromebooks are another solution, which we have already seen implemented. Using refurbished Chromebooks reduces the cost for the district, which could facilitate larger, more sufficient distribution. However, the burden ultimately lies on students to stop breaking their school-issued Chromebooks. This is a problem fundamentally created by students, and the solution should start with students.
