You can decline the take-home Chromebook

From 6th grade on, the district sends a Chromebook home with every student, every night. You don't have to accept one, at any grade.

If nobody told you that, you are not the only one. It doesn't really get announced. It just starts.

Some families are fine with it. A lot of us weren't, and we didn't find out until we were already a year in, arguing with our kids every night about a device the school sent home.

What makes this possible

The district has said two things in writing to the Board that matter here. Families are not required to sign the device agreement. And paper alternatives are workable.

Neither of those depends on your child's grade. Families across the middle school and high school have already sent letters in.

What we are asking for, and what we suggest you ask for:

No district Chromebook sent home with my child
Homework on paper, or a paper equivalent when an assignment would normally be digital
No Chromebook during study hall, since the homework is on paper anyway
The same instruction and the same opportunities as every other student, with no penalty
No expectation that you buy a computer for home

One thing worth saying up front. This is a request to the district, not a complaint about your child's teacher. Teachers didn't choose this and they can't fix it on their own. What we want is for the district to have paper ready so that no individual teacher is stuck inventing it.

Nobody wants their kid to be the only one

That's the part that stops most people, and it's a fair worry. We're not going to talk you out of it.

It's also why numbers matter. One student without a device gets worked around quietly. A dozen in the same grade means those teachers need paper on hand, and once it exists, it exists for everyone.

So we're doing it together. Add your name and tell us your child's grade. Letters have already gone in from families across several grades, so whatever you send, you will not be the first.

A letter you can copy

This is what we're sending. Change whatever you want. Short is fine.

Dear Principal Hogan,

I'm writing about my child, [NAME], who is entering [GRADE] this fall.

We are declining the take-home Chromebook. We would like [NAME] to use school devices at school only when a teacher assigns them, and to do homework on paper.

Specifically, we are asking for:

No district Chromebook sent home
Homework on paper, or a paper equivalent when an assignment would normally be digital
No Chromebook use during study hall
The same instruction and opportunities as every other student, with no penalty in grading or participation
No expectation that we provide a computer at home

I understand this takes some coordination, and I'd rather sort it out sooner than later. Please let me know if any of it needs discussion.

Thank you,
[YOUR NAME]
[PHONE OR EMAIL]

Middle School Principal: rhogan@newpaltz.k12.ny.us. Copy the Superintendent at sgratto@newpaltz.k12.ny.us if you want it on the record.

Do it before the first week

Devices go out early. It is much easier to decline one than to hand one back, and it gives the school time to sort out the paper side.

A note on your child's grade

If your child is starting 6th grade, this is the year the device first comes home. At Lenape it stayed at school. Nothing has been set up yet, so there's nothing to undo.

If your child is already past 6th grade, the same letter works. Change the grade and send it. You also know something a 6th grade family doesn't. You've seen which assignments run on a screen, so you can say exactly what you want on paper instead.

If you have questions, or you want to compare notes with a family who has already done this, email us. We'll answer.