Fears of school tablet thefts, damage unfounded, district says
Thousands of Beaufort County School District students have been allowed to take home tablet computers issued to them, and only a handful have been lost, stolen or damaged, according to pleasantly surprised district officials.
About 11,000 devices -- both iPads and Dell tablets -- are deployed across the district's elementary and middle schools, as well as at Whale Branch Early College High School.
Of those, only 12 have been reported lost or stolen -- and two of those have been recovered, according to district spokesman Jim Foster.
"With this being the first semester that the tablets have been allowed to go home, we actually are pleasantly surprised with the number because we thought there would be more," Foster said. "These students are taking the devices home after school, over weekends, on holidays, so they are out of the school a lot."
The district increased the number of tablets issued this school year, from 7,500 last year. When it was announced many students would be allowed to take the devices home, many parents and community members worried they would meet an untimely demise or disappear.
In an unscientific poll by The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette, 50 percent of responders said they didn't think taking the tablets home was a good idea, while 38 percent thought it was. Twelve percent said they weren't sure.
The tablets are allowed to go home with the Whale Branch High students and with middle school students. The majority of the missing tablets are from middle schools, head of technology Ross Hendricks said.
In January, the district expects to issue another 5,000 devices to students at its other four high schools, who also will be allowed to take them home, Hendricks said.
Those students, like those already issued tablets, will be taught how to use and care for their devices. They also will be told the procedure -- as well as the consequences -- should they be lost, stolen or damaged, Hendricks said.
The training, along with a new $20 usage fee, has encouraged students to take care of the tablets, he added.
If a device is stolen or accidentally damaged, the fee covers repair or replacement. However, if the device is lost or damaged because of negligence, Hendricks said, students have to pay a larger portion of the cost. An investigation by the district and the school resource officer determines whether the student should be held responsible, he added.
The district has seen slightly higher damage rates this year, compared with previous years when the devices remained in the schools, according to Hendricks. That increase was expected, he added, and much of the damage has been minimal and covered by warranty.
"We don't have the control over the devices we previously had when we could lock them up at the end of the day, so I can see why people were concerned," he said. "But if we are going to trust our students to send them home with hundreds of dollars in textbooks, then we can trust them to send them home with another tool that can really enhance their learning."
The district will now consider allowing elementary students to take the devices home, too.
"I think the students see this as a tool that they use every day, and we assign the device to the student," Hendricks said. "So there is a sense of ownership and incentive to take care of it."
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Related content:
- Beaufort County schools to let tablets go home, will add usage fee, January 19, 2014
- Tablet program to grow in Beaufort County schools, January 4, 2014
- District to expand iPad initiative, citing increased student engagement, May 23, 2013
- IPad supporters tout student engagement, but effect on achievement unclear, March 9, 2013
This story was originally published December 7, 2014 at 6:50 PM with the headline "Fears of school tablet thefts, damage unfounded, district says."