Dear HSE Schools Administration and Board,

Concern is rising in the Fishers community about the 1:1 iPad rollout in Fall of 2016 for children entering kindergarten through 4th grade.  We respectfully ask that you fully address the concerns of the parents and community stakeholders involved before progressing with the 1:1 in K-12 portion of the HSE 21 initiative.  Among those concerns are the cost to families, the logistics of transport/charging/apps, the lack of building level technical support, and the delicate balance between limiting screen time to age-appropriate levels while getting our financial investment out of these devices. 

We share your strong desire for the children of our community to be lifelong learners, critical thinkers and collaborators.   We are not confident that having each student beginning in kindergarten rent or purchase their own iPad is the most progressive model for achieving this goal.   This also comes at a time when HSE schools is seeking a referendum to pass in the community to increase our property taxes as our district is suffering from unsustainable class sizes and has expressed difficulty in attracting and retaining educators due to lack of competitive salary and working conditions.  In light of the urgency of these challenges, a 1:1 iPad initiative does not seem like the most prudent move forward.  We want to be confident that the limited resources of our schools and our educators, parents and taxpayers are being used in the most research-supported and effective ways possible.

Thank you for your consideration and for listening to and addressing our concerns.