Dear Spartan Spin
Laptops are a key part in school for learning. They are used for communication,
research, and completing assignments. Not being able to have them leaves a gap in our
learning system.
Since last January our school has added a new program that restricts our laptops
more than before. Instead of specific sites being blocked students and staff aren’t able
to complete simple searches. Random words are being flagged inhibiting our ability to
research school related topics and finish our work. Even teachers are being enabled by
this and are told they aren’t allowed to provide information to their students. And it’s not
just during school. Even when students are at home or after school they are told that
they aren’t allowed to look up information that doesn’t cause harm.
According to Erin Schilling, the director of technology at Superior High School,
she stated that “For student safety and security purposes, we have to block harmful or
dangerous sites. In addition, we block some sites that have been distractions to
learning. We base our decisions on legal obligations as well as on recommendations
from tech professionals and teachers. Teachers also have some individual control and
can allow or block certain sites in order to help students stay focused on learning.”
Overall the difficulty that students were facing was due to a glitch in the system when
the IT department made changes to their programs.
We suggest that when software changes, it should be tested before officially
putting it on student and staff laptops. By doing this, it will prevent glitches before they
happen.

Sincerely,
Claire Egnash, Brenden Farrel, Abagail Jordan, Emma Lampton, Natalie Schultz