By Calvin Pynn, contributor
The Harrisonburg City School Board is wrestling with how to deal with a growing problem of damage to school-issued laptops which, in some cases, are being intentionally vandalized by students.
Damage to Google Chromebooks — which are loaned to students for use in class and at home — amounts to more than $28,000 in repair costs, according to data presented at Tuesday’s school board meeting,
HCPS technology director Kevin Perkins and Skyline Middle School computer technician Ed Saylor briefed the board on the issue, which has included Chromebooks with cracked screens, lost keys and hardware defaced with permanent markers. In most cases, the damages are accidental, but a TikTok challenge that encourages students to deface their school-issued Chromebooks has become a growing problem.
“The challenge is, you take a paperclip or something, and sabotage your Chromebook with it,” Superintendent Michael Richards explained ahead of the discussion.
He added that the challenge has also started fires at different schools across the country where students have attempted it. That almost happened recently at Skyline Middle School when a Chromebook sabotaged by a student emitted sparks, Richards said.
“I want to make it very clear to our families tonight that you should talk to your students about that,” Richards said. “Not only is it damaging property, but it’s also dangerous.”
Richards said that he plans to issue a joint statement with Harrisonburg Fire Chief Matt Tobia about the dangers of the TikTok challenge.
Saylor told the board that he’s seen at least half a dozen Chromebooks damaged as a result of student vandalism and likely related to the challenge. And in some cases, the damaged devices have been a total loss.
“I think I’ve had two that were completely destroyed to where we can’t do anything about it,” Saylor said. “We can salvage parts, but that’s about it.
Perkins said students have also turned to online videos to learn how to bypass the Chromebooks’ content filters and device monitoring software.
“If you go on YouTube, any content filter that’s out there, there are videos on ways students can get around those,” Perkins said.
Perkins said the damaged Chromebooks are not the first time students have been enticed by social media to damage school property.
“Over the last several academic years, there have been other TikTok challenges that were related to damaging other types of school property, whether it may have been soap dispensers in bathrooms or something like that,” Perkins said. “There was a rash in the past, but it hasn’t always been non-tech, but now we’re seeing them technology-related.”
Perkins and Saylor presented several options to discourage students from damaging their devices, including imposing fines for lost and damaged parts and revoking device and internet privileges.
The board considered those proposed consequences while also discussing how the school-issued Chromebooks have become crucial to instruction in recent years.
“During the pandemic, when our Chromebooks were the only door to education, to use that metaphor, we didn’t want to close that door to anyone,” Richards said. “Now they’re more of a tool in addition to other things we do. But I don’t want to do anything that would disadvantage our families that have fewer resources than other families.”
Board member Andy Kohen echoed that point later in the conversation.
“We have to bear in mind that there’s an equity underlying issue,” Kohen said. “Not every kid who intentionally destroys a device, may not be able to afford to replace it, and that could cause some potential trouble.”
Saylor said despite the problem, only a small number of damaged laptops that land on his desk are intentionally vandalized.
“I would say roughly like 90% of our students take pretty darn good care of their Chromebooks,” Saylor said. “There’s another 5% that’s probably just careless or accident-prone. You know, OK, things happen. But then you run into just a very small percentage, probably less than 1% that intentionally damages the equipment. And not only do they intentionally damage theirs, they intentionally damage others.”
The Board took no action on the issue, but will discuss it again at future meetings.
Other highlights from the meeting
- Richards announced collective bargaining for HCPS has been approved, making it the first school division in the Shenandoah Valley to have a collective bargaining unit. The Harrisonburg Education Association will serve that role.
- The Board voted unanimously to implement a $1,000 retention bonus to teachers in the city’s school division. The Virginia Department of Education will provide more than $673,000 for the bonuses, but HCPS will need to contribute about $370,000 to cover all HCPS staff. The bonuses will be included in their June paycheck.
- The Board also voted unanimously to add 10 minutes to the city’s elementary schools – 5 minutes at the beginning of the day and 5 minutes at the end – in order to make up for instructional time lost to inclement weather. According to Chief Academic Officer Joy Blosser, an overwhelming majority of HCPS elementary school teachers were in favor of the schedule change, which would prevent elementary students from having to attend school on off days when middle and high school students don’t. Blosser added that HCPS also requested a waiver of the instructional hours to the VDOE, but were rejected due to “insufficient evidence.
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