Wake can’t continue to afford computers for every student. What could change
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Wake will study keeping elementary school Chromebooks on campus to cut device costs.
- District may expand BYOD for high schools and offer opt-outs to reduce device purchases.
- Board will weigh leasing, accountability and equity impacts before policy changes.
In the face of tightening budgets, Wake County could put new limits on who can take home school-issued computers as well as encourage some students to use their personal devices.
The Wake County school board discussed Tuesday a “post-pandemic student device strategy” that could change how the district provides computers to every student. Ideas under consideration include requiring all elementary school students to leave their district-issued Chromebooks in school and encouraging high school students to use their personal devices.
“We want to ensure equitable access to the right tools for every student and ensure that they’re using them to learn,” said Michael Martin, a consultant from RTI working with the school system. “In the end that means getting it out at the right time and putting them away at the right time,”
Tuesday’s school board meetings are being held virtually instead of in person due to the lingering impact of the weekend storm. There is no public comment section at Tuesday’s virtual board meeting. School board chair Tyler Swanson said the public will have multiple chances to comment on the district’s device strategy.
“I know for a fact that it will most definitely come back to a work session or to a future board meeting, so the public can definitely have some in some input into this conversation,” Swanson said in an interview Monday.
Switch to 1:1 computers during pandemic
Before the pandemic, few school districts across North Carolina and the nation provided computers for every student that they could take home with them.
But things changed in 2020 when schools switched to online instruction during the pandemic. Schools used one-time federal COVID relief aid to purchase devices, usually Chromebooks, to give to students to use at home.
Wake gives students a new device every three years. But only students in grades 3 through 12 take their devices home with them. Students have used their Chromebooks during the remote learning that Wake has used over the past two weeks when schools were closed due to winter storms.
Wake replaces the first device that a student damages and makes them leave it in school after the second time they damage their district-issued Chromebook.
But Wake is among 88 out of 115 North Carolina school districts who say they don’t have the money to continue replacing all their student-issued computers.
“We know we face real constricting and uncertain budgets,” Martin told the board. “Pandemic money is rolling off.”
The Chromebooks and other devices have now become heavily integrated into classrooms. Some people think it’s gone too far.
“Are we using the technology, or is the technology using us?” school board member Wing Ng said Tuesday.
Make elementary students leave computers at school?
Currently, Pre-K students get iPads to use in school. Other elementary school students get a Chromebook. The K-2 students don’t take the devices home with them. Some elementary schools don’t let students in grades 3-5 to take their devices home with them.
In the short term, administrators propose studying whether to require all elementary school students to leave their Chromebooks in school. Any changes could come next school year.
In the long term, administrators will consider changes such as:
- Reduce where possible the number of devices used in Pre-K and kindergarten.
- Maintain for now a ratio of one device for every student in 1st and 2nd grades. But it would be reconsidered in the 2028-29 school year.
The district listed advantages such as cost savings that can be used in other areas and addressing concerns about too much screen time for early grades. But potential negatives include access and equity issues for some families who don’t have their own devices.
“There is this sort of big question about how much screen time should kids have in the early grades,” Martin said.
Do elementary students need computers?
School board member Cheryl Caulfield suggested going even further by not giving devices to any elementary students.
“I don’t think they’re going to miss anything not having a device,” Caulfield said.
But other school board members said that would go too far, pointing to how district computers are required for taking state exams.
“I don’t support taking devices away from anyone,” said board member Jennifer Job.
BYOD for high school students?
Before the pandemic, several Wake schools had piloted a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) program where students brought their own computers or smartphones to use in class. A new state law bars students from using their phones in class but allows teachers to permit their use for educational purposes.
In a potential cost-saving measure, administrators discussed Tuesday instituting a BYOD policy for high schools. In this option, students would have the option to use their own non-cell phone device instead of getting a district computer.
Some students already bring their own devices to school and don’t use the district-issued Chromebook, according to Martin.
This BYOD approach could save the district money.
“That frees up devices for other purposes and potentially reduces costs,” Martin said.
But it could also create access and equity concerns problems from students having different devices. Other potential problems include students still needing to use district-issued devices for state testing.
The potential staff recommendation is to continue to provide a 1:1 device ratio for grades 1 through 12 while also creating an opt-out policy for high school students. Those students would use their own devices instead of getting one from Wake.
Making students take better care of devices
Other items that were discussed Tuesday include:
- Study whether to lease devices instead of purchasing them for students.
- Study not providing new Promethean boards/classroom panels to all classrooms. Instead prioritize who gets them.
- Initiate a review of accountability measures to get students to take better care of their devices.
“We expect students to treat devices as a privilege not a right and that careful resource allocation is vital to ensure access for all students to technology when they need it,” according to Wake’s presentation.
This story was originally published February 3, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
