Two weeks into school, many students still haven't received Chromebooks from Wake County
Wake County Board of Education members said Friday that, as the first two weeks of orientation comes to a close, students are still waiting for devices.
Initially, education officials hoped to be done distributing Chromebooks to around 15,000 families by Friday, so that every family would have the proper technology access they need by Monday morning when classes begin.
Board members instead said during Friday's meeting that, by early next week, parents still waiting on a device should get an email letting them know where to pick up their resources. The district should be done distributing Chromebooks and hotspots by the end of next week, they said.
The two-week "orientation period" – where Superintendent Cathy Moore said it was OK to not have a device to start school – is now over.
Keith Sutton, chairman of the board, said that some families who have requested devices have technology in the home, but it is not sufficient for online learning. Students may have to share a device with a sibling or a parent, he said.
Sutton said that Wake County is "happy" to help these families "improve access."
Moore said that "not every student who requested a device is without a device." Because of this, the board said they did not have numbers on how many students were lacking laptops.
According to the most recent numbers from the board, around 50,000 laptops were requested in Wake County, and around 24,000 laptops were given to parents.
A spokeswoman for the school district said some parents who were invited to pick up a device have not.
"Parents could be waiting for a date that is convenient for them," said Lisa Luten, communications director for the district. "In some cases, families who initially had a need may have discovered that they no longer have a need."
The board also said that only a limited number of people can come to pick up devices in any given day due to social distancing guidelines from the state to limit the spread of coronavirus.
In Wake County 85,550 students are currently enrolled in the district's Virtual Academy. That's more than half of the average number of students enrolled in the Wake County Public School System.
The Virtual Academy can provide core classes online for students as an option for those at higher risk for coronavirus infection or for students whose parents don't feel comfortable sending them back to school during the pandemic. Students in the Virtual Academy won't have to come back into the classroom or adhere to the district's plans for reopening.
Students who are enrolled in this option can choose to either stay online until the end of the fall semester or until the end of the school year.
Review of first two weeks
Overall, Sutton said that he "did not receive a ton of complaints" about the orientation period and suggested most people understand this is a new normal.
The board said they received positive feedback about how teachers were engaging with students in a meaningful way through online learning.
Board members encouraged parents to give feedback and engage with the school to let them know how to improve online learning.
Attendance guidelines from the state have been adjusted. For students to be counted present, they have to have a two-way interaction. That may look like a virtual classroom meeting, email or phone call or turning in a daily assignment.
Attendance will look different for each student, depending on their technology access, school officials said.
