Brett & Megan

Two years ago our district started a ban on cellular phones and ‘electronic devices’ in the classroom. This is a frustration felt by many teachers nationwide who see the potential value of cell phones in the classroom.  Now add to that refrigerators. Our district is now executing a ban on all personal refrigerators on all campuses. Apparently the two biggest concerns of our district board are that we can call people and that we can keep our drinks cold.

One thought that came up in my mind was what if a teacher has a medical condition requiring medicine to be kept cold and close by, such as insulin injections. The nearest community fridge (which are allowed in limited numbers) may be on another floor or worse, in another building. And when the teacher asks for an exception to the policy, will they be pressured to reveal confidential health information?

Supposedly this policy was put into effect to reduce costs related to electricity usage. Yet they provided no clear, long-term energy plan or any type of data-driven estimation of how much they will save by making this move.

This is one more jab in the side by the ‘energy czar’ as the staff has dubbed. This is a district employee who’s role is to reduce energy usage using the most diminuitive means possible including driving to various schools sites, opening classrooms and turning off/unplugging everything in sight. This includes turning off pet lamps, unplugging USB cables, shutting off power to the main server on campus and yes, unplugging refrigerators. Ironically, these uneducated choices (who does that??) have cost the district thousands of $$ in lost server time (reentering attendance data), damaged camera film for photography classes, and replacements for dissection specimens in science labs.

One day while working late on creating an assignment, I walked down the hall to make some photo copies. While I was out, the energy czar struck like an overly-eager, under-giving tooth fairy! When I returned to my class, the computer was off, my USB port was unplugged (b/c of the little LED lights), and the monitor button was pushed in. Apparently, the czar had urgent business elsewhere, because she (oops, did I say that?) made no attempt to save my current documents. I sent her a polite email the next day explaining that she caused me to keep those machines running for another hour to recreate an assignment I had almost finished before she pulled the plugs.

I guess this answers my general frustration with why we are not moving towards 21st century education by equipping our students with access to computers – they don’t want to pay the electrical bill. Hey board members, let’s make a trade; it won’t cost you a dime to let students use their cellphones at school.