Group’s approach will go beyond AI, screen time
The Methow Valley School Board is getting ready to launch a new Digital Technology Working Group, as school districts across the nation limit screen time by taking digital devices out of students’ hands.
The working group, which could start to convene in the next couple months, will look beyond hot-button issues such as screen time and the use of artificial intelligence and take a broad approach to the district’s tech policy. And the group isn’t necessarily going to follow the lead of Bellingham Public Schools and Seattle Public Schools, which recently announced limits to screen time at the earliest grade levels.
As Superintendent Grant Storey told the school board on Thursday (Sept. 24), the working group’s approach “deliberately avoids beginning with either a more-technology or less-technology assumption.”
“Its central question is really around when, why and how should technology support teaching and learning in the Methow Valley School District,” Storey said.
Along with student screen time and the responsible use of AI, the working group will consider cybersecurity, student privacy, and the latest digital tools available to various educational programs such as automotive tech, graphic design and music.
The group is not expected to develop specific policies about screen time or any other technology issues in its first year. In any case, its recommendations would need to be approved by the school board.
“The purpose of the first year is to establish a shared understanding, develop guiding principles and identify priorities for subsequent work,” a memo from Storey to the school board said.
Other districts in the state have followed a nationwide trend by limiting screen time for the youngest learners. Bellingham Public Schools decided in August it would remove iPads from kindergarten classrooms, according to Cascadia Daily News. And last week The Seattle Times reported that students in kindergarten through second grade at Seattle Public Schools will no longer have assigned iPads.
Concerned parents
At Methow Valley Elementary School, students work from Chromebooks, and kindergartners use tablets to take assessment tests. A group of parents expressed concerns about the kindergarten assessments and the use of Google and YouTube in the elementary school at the Sept. 10 school board meeting.
Given the level of community interest in topics such as screen time and AI, board member Ben Avery questioned whether the new Digital Technology Working Group could maintain its focus on the broader tech picture.
The AI topic alone could take up all of the committee’s time, Avery said.
“I’m sure people will want to talk about it,” he said. “Who is the person responsible, or the people responsible, for keeping this group appropriately on task?”
Storey replied that Avery’s question deserves more thought, but the superintendent’s initial idea was to have school staff set the working group’s agenda.
Storey’s draft charter for the group calls for eight to 12 members, including staff, students, parents and “community members with relevant professional, technical or personal experience.”
The school district will begin taking applications for the working group after its charter is approved, likely at the board’s next meeting on Oct. 8. Storey said he may appoint some of the staff positions.
Enrollment down
As expected, the school district’s enrollment numbers are down this year, following a trend seen throughout the state and the U.S.
In a bit of unwelcome news for the district budget, the September enrollment count showed six fewer students who are enrolled in the traditional sense, and six more enrolled as Alternative Learning Experience students, compared to the budget forecast. This has resulted in a $43,000 shortfall in the district’s 2026–27 budget, Storey said.
While that only represents a fraction of 1% of the schools’ $18.13 million budget, district leaders hope they may be spared this budget pinch to start the school year.
The ending fund balance from 2025–26 may be higher than expected, Storey and district Business Manager Sherry Sloan told the board. The exact amount of the remaining funds from the last school year won’t be known until October.
“So it offsets a little bit, but it’s still something that we’re going to have to keep really close track of as we move throughout the year,” Storey said.
The September student count isn’t the final word on the district’s enrollment figures. The first count of the year doesn’t include Running Start and certain other programs, and student numbers should decline naturally as the year progresses, Storey said.
“I will continue to monitor enrollment closely as the counts stabilize,” he told the board.
“The broader challenge remains unchanged,” Storey added. “Declining enrollment, combined with increasing operating costs, continues to place structural pressure on the district’s budget.”
