By requiring students to only use school-issued computers while at school, starting in late November, the district hopes to protect its network and keep students safe.
District Device Manager Bill Hazel said that the requirement for one computer for each student started back in 2016, but between a ransomware attack in 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic, the rules became less strict.
“The main goal is to ensure that students have devices configured to securely perform the tasks required to access our curriculum and testing sessions,” Hazel said.
IT Site Support Technician Gene Parrott said that it is important for students to have a district-issued computer for different tests, like Keystones or any AP exams.
“The big thing with the school computer is [that] they have the lockdown browsers needed to do state-mandated testing,” Parrott said.
Principal Sam Varano said that the policy started to be reinforced because of a small number of recent security concerns that involved non-district-issued computers.
“There’s a concern that access to our systems is too easy for computers that our IT department doesn’t control everything on, [and] that there’s a potential breach of security,” Varano said.
According to Hazel, another reason for the return of this rule is to make sure that every student has access to the resources they need and has an equal opportunity.
“We want for everybody to have the best experience they can, but again, we always have to keep that balance of management, so it’s our security, it’s our applications, it’s all of that,” Hazel said.
Varano said that students who had been using their own computers at school had to go to the tech hub to get a school-issued computer.
According to Parrott, it wasn’t difficult for students to get school-issued computers because of how the district had prepared in the beginning of the year.
“We set up in the beginning of the school year on the assumption that we have to give a device for every kid, and we work over the summer to prepare for the school year under that assumption,” Parrott said.
Sophomore Sean Bagley said that he already had gotten a school-issued computer at the beginning of the year, but it’s difficult to adjust to now since he had been using his own.
“It’s just different from what I’m used to. I have to kind of relearn it in a whole new way,” Bagley said.
Junior Olivia Rittenhouse said that she hadn’t gotten a school-issued computer at the beginning of the year, so the process was different.
“Since I had never gotten one at all in the beginning of the year, I had to go through the payment process and I had to set up a password and everything,” Rittenhouse said.
Hazel said that the district is not trying to make it difficult for students, but is just trying to protect them and the school as a whole.
“We have a marching order to deliver a managed computer that is secure,” Hazel said.