“Outraged parents,” wrote Deirdre Cooner in The Florida Times-Union, complained of “computer segregation” in reaction to a recent letter to parents of Julington Creek Elementary ( Jacksonville, FL) students. The letter announced plans to divide classes among students who took their own laptop computer to use at school and those who did not.

Principal Michael Story said it was an effort to expand access to technology for all students, adding, wrote Cooner, “that the letter was too strong and that any child wanting to be in a laptop class could be, although they would not be able to take the computers home.” School district spokeswoman Margie Davidson said Thursday the letter "never should have been sent."

Writes Cooner:

Julington Creek, in the fast-growing and affluent northwestern part of the county, is not the only elementary school in the area to have classes for children who have laptops. At nearby Cunningham Creek and Timberlin Creek elementaries, similar policies are in place - but there are computers loaned to students who don't own a laptop.

Julington Creek parent Christine Miller said such an arrangement still stigmatizes children using so-called "scholarship computers" and said parents feel pressure to buy the machines. The loaned computers cannot be taken home.

Addressing the issue in the school newsletter, Principal Story wrote,

In keeping with the spirit of the District’s Strategic Plan, it is the goal of JCE to provide our students with a technology-rich environment which empowers learners to access, process, and communicate information and ideas. We are going to continue the integration of technology into our curriculum so our students can utilize this learning tool. Our school provides laptop computers for each grade level on rolling labs for students to use during teacher instruction. In addition, some parents may choose to purchase personally-owned technology tools for their children to use at school. The curriculum being taught will determine the amount of time technology is used during teacher instruction in each class.

Source:
* The Florida Times Union.
* Julington Creek Elementary Jaguar Journal