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Issue 1
September 27th, 2019
Delay in chromebook distribution
FRI. | 09-24-21 | NEWS
SAT. | 10-10-20 | NEWS
With all students returned to face-to-face learning for this school year, distributing Chromebooks to each one is a process with many steps that require time to complete. This process has taken the first few weeks of school, and has caused students to adapt their schoolwork while waiting for a Chromebook.
The first reason is that over 200 students did not return their Chromebook last school year. Computer Distribution Committee member Andrew Pierce believes that this issue occurred due to students not knowing when to return Chromebooks and students needing them for summer school. Students who kept their Chromebook but brought it back to school to use for this school year will have no consequence, but if students fail to bring back their computer, they face a $200 fine.
“Students that [did] not return their Chromebooks last year [must] bring their Chromebooks to the media center to have them reactivated for use this year,” head of Chromebook distribution Committee Amanda McDaniel said.
Another issue is the time-consuming process it takes to get computers ready for students and pass them out. Students first have to fill out a student device agreement form and pay a $20 fee to receive a Chromebook. If the form is submitted late, the

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student will get their Chromebook late. McDaniel must also prepare each Chromebook for a student.
In order for a student to receive a Chromebook, there are a number of requirements that must be met. After students submit their payment and agreement form, staff must check their form for missing information. If the student turns in the form, but does not pay the fee, they are a day user and cannot take the Chromebook home. Once the form is checked, the student is issued a Chromebook. If that student had one last year, it is located and checked out to them, but if they did not, then the staff uses a TipWeb system to check out the computer. Students' records must be checked for damage incidents from last year's Chromebook or charger. Lastly, the computer's serial number is stored in a notebook, and the Chromebook is passed out to them. This multistep process, while necessary, is the main reason there was a delay in Chromebook distribution.
Another way for students to use school Chromebooks is by being a day user. Day users use a different Chromebook in each class period that comes from that teacher's Chromebook cart. Day users cannot take their assigned Chromebooks home. This set-up takes the longest for McDaniel to prepare since she must first find out how many Chromebooks a teacher needs, and then put them all in carts. Another issue arises over the fact that there are not enough Chromebooks for all students. If the school does not have enough computers for each student to get one, they can most definitely not supply each student with four. Even if Chromebooks are being reused by different classes, the number of students fluctuates by period and carts may have unused Chromebooks during one period and not enough the next. With the shortage of Chromebooks, each cart only has up to 20 Chromebooks, so some classes may not be able to supply all the students until more Chromebooks are returned or bought.
With the possibility of a student or the whole school having to return to virtual learning due to COVID-19, it is essential that teachers have their assignments online for anyone who needs them. If a student has to be quarantined and does not have a technological device, they cannot complete their schoolwork. Also, if a teacher assigns online work and a student does not have a Chromebook, the teacher must print out a copy for their student.
Distributing Chromebooks has many steps and due to this, students have received their Chromebooks weeks into the school year. This has created many issues in classrooms, but McDaniels is distributing more Chromebooks to students each day.