Fox C-6 School District middle and high school students will not have access to the internet on their personal devices this school year.
The district informed families about the change in a letter sent by Superintendent Paul Fregeau on Aug. 15. Fox began the school year Wednesday, Aug. 24.
In the letter, Fregeau said the decision was made because every student in sixth grade through seniors in high school has a district-issued Chromebook this school year. Previously, only high school students had a district-issued Chromebook.
The increase in devices will create higher demand for bandwidth, or internet service, on school buildings’ internet networks, the letter said, potentially straining capacity.
By turning off students’ access to the networks for personal devices – which includes personal Chromebooks, tablets and phones – there will be more available bandwidth for district-issued Chromebooks and other classroom devices that access the internet, according to the letter.
“Our mission is to educate kids and provide a quality education,” Fregeau said. “We have a lot of digital resources we need to use, and those need to be the priority on our system during the school day.”
Access to schools’ internet networks will be limited to district-issued devices only during the school day. Students will be able to access the network with their personal devices before the school day begins and after the school day ends, Fox officials said.
Some parents have expressed concerns about the inability for students to access networks on personal devices, Fregeau said.
Cell service and texting can be spotty or unavailable at some district schools, and parents often use email to reach their children during the school day. With the change, that choice would only be available through the district’s email, not students’ personal accounts.
“The main concern from parents is getting ahold of their child during an emergency,” Fregeau said. “If you have been through an emergency at a school when you have had to evacuate or something like that, cell service is not going to be available. The most reliable thing is either a radio or the internet, which would be email, to get ahold of their kid.”
Because emails may be the most efficient way for students and parents to communicate at times during the school day, Fox officials said students in middle school will be able to use their Chromebooks to send and receive emails outside of the district’s network for the first time this school year.
“Historically, we have allowed students in (high school) to email outside of our network,” said JP Prezzavento, Fox’s communications and instructional technology coordinator.
“However, (for students in kindergarten through eighth grade), we have had a walled garden, so to speak. They could communicate inside of our network, but we had not seen practical-use cases for that age group to need to utilize (email) to communicate with anyone outside of our network. If a parent wanted to see what they are doing, they could log into their account.”
To address safety concerns, “We will give some of that additional flexibility (for kids in middle school) to let them email outside of the network. This is something we are doing to help our families feel a little more at ease because it is 2022, and they want to be able to get ahold of their kid. This will help them,” Prezzavento said.
Fregeau said in his letter to families that the new policy to restrict Wi-Fi on personal devices will provide additional protection for middle school students while they are using the internet.
“While all devices on our wireless network have filtered access to the internet, district-owned devices have enhanced safety features and filtering tools applied to them,” the letter said. “These tools help to keep our students safe and focused when they are on district-owned devices.”
The letter also said the elimination of personal devices on schools’ networks should cut down on disruptions in classrooms.
“Without wireless internet access on their phones and tablets, students will have fewer opportunities for distraction when they are in class,” Fregeau said in the letter.