LEWISTON- If parents don’t want their children using Google services while at school, they will be required to sign a form in order to opt them out.
That’s according to a new rule made by the School Committee during their Monday meeting. The committee was forced to make a decision due to a change in Google’s company policies.
According to Lewiston Public Schools Superintendent Jake Langlais, Google changed a policy and blocked access to some Google services on student devices a few weeks ago. Google services are online tools (like Google Maps, Google Translate, YouTube, Google Earth) provided for free by Google.
A Google account is created for each student in Lewiston schools, and this account follows them through the grades. Students often rely on services like Google Docs for typed writing assignments, and Gmail for communication with teachers about work due. Students also are given a 1-0n-1 device for use (often an iPad), which is tied to their Google account.
Staff members frequently use services like Google Classroom and Google Slides to organize student work and add to their lessons. Many staff have a substantial amount of stored resources created over the past several years, and they do not want to lose that work.
“I don’t think it’s realistic to not allow access to Google tools for our kids and our staff,” Langlais said. He urged committee members to support either an opt-out or an opt-in model.
“I didn’t see it as an option to not use these tools,” Langlais added.
City Council Representative Scott Harriman concurred. “I would agree with the superintendent that we need these apps,” he said.
Although the permissions for some services appeared untouched, Google removed the permissions for others that are used by students and staff members. This is what prompted the superintendent to seek direction from the School Committee.
Committee members had three options. The first was to move away from using Google services altogether. The second was for students to continue using those services, but require parents to sign a form if they want to opt their children out. The third was to require parents to sign a permission slip before students could use those services.
It was determined to not be feasible to set permissions for each individual student device, since there are around six thousand devices in the district.
Ward 7 Representative Donna Gallant asked a question about safety protections for students while using the apps so that they don’t go “somewhere they shouldn’t be.” Langlais responded that there are oversight measures in place.
He also noted that restrictions made by the district are placed on individual student devices, and parents will need to place their own restrictions on home devices if they allow their child to access their Google account at home.
Ward 1 Representative Phoenix McLaughlin voiced his support for an opt-out approach, where students would all be granted permission to continue using those Google services and parents can opt their children out if they wish.
Gallant motioned to accept the opt-out model, and it passed unanimously (members Beaudoin and Hird were absent).
Langlais noted that parents can opt their students out of Google services or technology use altogether. He stated this is very uncommon for a district of about six thousand students, and there are only about two or three instances per year.