The Lower Merion school board voted Monday to repeal its existing technology policies, over outcry from parents who accused the board of stripping their right to opt their children out of district-issued laptops and iPads.
During a contentious meeting — the board summoned security after interruptions from the crowd in the Lower Merion High School auditorium — parents demanded answers on why the district was denying families the ability to reject devices they said were threatening their kids’ education, and even their lives.
“A parent’s right to opt out of one-to-one educational technology to do what is best for their children” is “life and death for their development and learning,” said parent Meredith Brisco-Bacik, a cardiologist who likened the district’s use of educational technology to giving kids a risky medical procedure without their parents’ consent.
By repealing the existing policies, which contain language requiring administrators to accommodate students whose families do not sign electronic device use agreements, “you stand ready to remove the proverbial defibrillators from the room,” Brisco-Bacik said.
Parents in Lower Merion have been battling the district since the spring over concerns about excessive screen time in school, saying the district is relying too heavily on educational technology programs and failing to stop kids from accessing distracting or inappropriate content.
District officials have responded to the criticism by advancing a new technology policy that would end the assignment of personal devices to K-2 students and set guidelines for technology use by grade level.
But officials say it is not possible for families to opt out of devices entirely, despite hundreds of parents signing a petition supporting the ability to do so.
“That is not an option in Lower Merion School District, nor has it ever been an option in Lower Merion School District to opt out,” said Anna Shurak, the chair of the board’s policy committee.
She said the policy repealed Monday — which dates to when the district adopted one-to-one devices in 2011 — has been misinterpreted by parents, and was related to families who did not sign agreements about taking electronic devices home.
But parents said the district had failed to explain why technology was so integral to the curriculum that it was not possible to opt out of personal devices.
“If there were direct payoffs or dirty money exchanging hands, it would make sense, but to think that our kids and teachers have been sold out for simple ideological capture by tech corporations … is incredibly depressing,” parent Eleanor Stanford said.
Numerous parents expressed frustration, saying they felt the district had not listened to them.
Brian Nealis, a parent of children finishing seventh and fourth grades in the district, said that when he tried to talk to his sons’ assistant principal about his concerns, “his response to me was, ‘The kids need to learn self-control.’ And my reaction was like, oh, should we just hand out nicotine packets in middle school? … That is the most asinine thing to hear from an educator.”
The board voted 7-2 to repeal the current technology policies, with members Sarah Thomas and Abigail Lerner Rubin voting no.
Rubin said she was uncomfortable with repealing existing policies before the district had adopted new ones, and asked fellow board members to “pause unless and until we can provide the evidence that people have asked for, that these devices are safe, effective, and legal.”
Shurak said the board needed to repeal the existing policies to allow administrators and teachers to move forward with planning for adoption of the proposed replacement policies for the coming school year.
