Family Access to School Technology (FAST) at Lawrence Public Schools

There are waiting lists at the libraries of both Lawrence high schools. When the due dates arrive, students don’t want to give the materials back.

What are being checked out aren’t books. Instead, students are borrowing laptops and portable Wi-Fi hotspots so they can access the digital texts required to do their schoolwork.

Joy Taylor, a junior at Free State High School, is one of those students. She doesn’t have a computer or Internet at home. She and two other students came to the Lawrence school board’s most recent meeting to tell board members how the new device checkout program has affected them.

Taylor said that before she had her laptop and Wi-Fi hotspot through school, she would go to the public library to do her homework. Often, she would still have some work to do after library hours.

“I would use my phone until the mobile data would run out,” she said. “I had no time for extracurricular activities because of computer after hours; my schedule was pretty much tied up.”

The Lawrence school district did not survey its students to find out how many had reliable access to computers and Internet before introducing digital texts. After teachers raised concerns, the district began the pilot device checkout program about two months ago at Lawrence and Free State high schools. The district has also added some evening hours at two school libraries.

When librarians from both high schools were scheduled to deliver an update on the device checkout program to the board, Taylor and two other students said they wanted to speak as well.

Transition to digital

The changeover to digital has been gradual over the past five years. This school year, digital texts were rolled out for three additional subjects: high school algebra and advanced placement U.S. history, as well as elementary language arts. After those additions, more than 90 percent of students districtwide — or about 10,000 students — have one or more subjects that rely on a digital textbook.

As the district introduced digital texts, it also started a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy. For some students, that policy left them using the only device they had: a smartphone.

“After classes started, we realized that some students were using smartphones to do their homework — reading chapters of history on their phones or taking pictures of their math homework,” Free State librarian Leslie Campbell told the board.

In September, teachers at Lawrence High reported similar circumstances, which prompted district officials to initiate the pilot program for device checkout at both high schools.

Prior to the move to digital texts, no direct survey was done to determine how many Lawrence students don’t have dependable access to a device or the Internet. District officials calculated that 120 high school students would not have Internet access at home based on nationwide research done by Kajeet, a wireless Internet provider, said Jerri Kemble, assistant superintendent of educational programs and technology.

As part of the pilot device checkout program, there are 35 laptops and 10 Wi-Fi hotspots available for checkout at each high school. Of the laptops at each school, 10 are Chromebooks and 25 are Macbooks. Campbell told the board that students’ individual stories are important for recognizing the need for more devices and finding a solution.

“I wish all of you could be standing next to me as the students come into the library with their devices,” Campbell said. “The day I checked it out to Joy (Taylor), she said, ‘This is the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for me.'”

BYOD and device checkout

Taylor is not the only one. So far, librarians indicate that the device checkout program is a popular one.

Campbell and Charlotte Anderson, the librarian at Lawrence High, both reported the devices have remained checked out at all times, with students consistently waiting.

Free State checks out its 25 MacBooks for the semester, and Taylor was one of the students who had one for the fall. Taylor said the laptop has made a big difference. Her schedule is more flexible. She doesn’t have to rush anymore to make the library hours, which has allowed her to participate in activities and clubs after school.

“I just want to say that this has been a great opportunity and thanks to those that have been involved,” she said.

Kemble, the assistant superintendent of educational programs and technology, also helped deliver the update on access to technology. Kemble said the district needs to consider its policies when it comes to devices and their effect on its goal of equity.

“One of the things I was really shocked about is that if districts are going to focus on BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), that that can really exacerbate the divide in the district,” she said.

The main concern is the waiting lists. The librarians reported that between the two schools, the device checkout programs have about 15 students waiting for the short-term checkout. Additional students have indicated they are interested in the semester-long checkout, which doesn’t keep a waiting list.

“We check ours out for the whole semester, so I have trouble when they come to me saying, ‘I don’t really want to give mine back’,” Campbell said. “So I’m hoping that some more will come.”

Limited access

The calculation of 120 high school students without Internet represents those with no access, but that figure doesn’t account for students with limited access. The two other students who spoke to the board described how that situation affected them.

Lanice Brown, a junior at Free State, told the board she has two computers at home, but her twin sister uses one for virtual school and another sister is taking online college courses. By the time the computer was free, she said, it was often late, and she’d sometimes fall asleep waiting to use it, leaving her homework incomplete.

“It’s easier for me to just have my device, to go upstairs to my room and get it over with,” she said, explaining that she’s involved in choir, after-school clubs and debate forensics, and prefers to do her homework as soon as she gets home.

Brown said the device also helps her with the evidence she uses for debate forensics, which she can now access digitally.

“For debate I carried around huge 50-pound boxes of evidence,” Brown said, adding that she spent hours filing and carefully labeling papers so she could find them quickly in a debate.

EmmaLea Dailey, a junior at Free State, shared a similar experience. At her house, there are six people and one computer. With the laptop she was issued for the semester, she had more time to complete her assignments at home. Dailey said she’s also been able use her laptop in other ways, such as researching what she wants to do in college.

Extended library hours

District officials hope some of the students with no or limited access will benefit from another new program.

The school district recently began a program called Family Access to School Technology. To increase access, the library at Liberty Memorial Central Middle School is open from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. At South Middle School, the library is open from 3:05 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays.

So far, FAST has not been as popular as the device checkout program, but district officials think that is due mostly to a lack of awareness. Kemble noted that the extended hours are also available for parents, and someone with the tech department is on hand to help them get on Skyward, the online program that tracks students’ grades and missing work.

“We haven’t had the numbers that we’d like to see, but we continue with the advertising,” she said. “So we’re opening up our schools to allow people to use our technology access.”

Reality

Despite FAST, school board members expressed concerns about the waiting lists to check out devices. Lawrence schools Superintendent Rick Doll, however, noted that for the Wi-Fi hotspots, there is a monthly service fee, and additions to make devices available for all students would need to be budgeted.

“The reality is, how do we pay for this?” he said. “If we go 1-to-1, how do we do that?” Doll added that knowing the number of students on waiting lists was important and will help the board decide how many more devices are needed.

Kemble later said she was proud of the three students who attended the board’s meeting, and she thinks their statements will make a difference.

“I believe their stories were impactful and helped all of us to understand how important it is to ensure all students have a device and a connection to the Internet,” she said in an email.

Kemble added that they can see the pilot device checkout program is successful.

“We are now working to find ways to connect our students in order to provide them these important educational connections,” she said.