Some district parents want quicker action
The Methow Valley School District’s superintendent will solicit applications for a new Digital Technology Working Group, to begin a comprehensive review of technology in the schools with the eventual aim of recommending policies that would govern tech use, including artificial intelligence and screen time.
The Methow Valley School Board approved a charter document outlining the working group’s membership and responsibilities on Thursday (Oct. 8).
The group is charged with looking at technology broadly — the devices students use, how much screen time they get, concerns over privacy and cybersecurity, how technology might enhance career and technical education (CTE), and the responsible use of rapidly evolving AI.
The group will begin meeting this fall. By the end of the school year, it will produce a summary of current technology use, establish “digital technology guiding principles” and set future work priorities, according to the charter.
Superintendent Grant Storey told board members he expects the group to continue its work beyond the 2026–27 school year. He singled out the Manson and Quincy school districts for their recent committee work to develop AI policies.
“Some of our regional peers that have spearheaded and led this work … we’re kind of following their model, and their model was a multi-year process,” he said.
Ultimately, the working group will forward its policy recommendations to the school board for final approval.
A parent who spoke at the Oct. 8 meeting questioned whether the district was moving quickly enough.
Melissa Brumer said she was concerned that a proposed technology policy might not be discussed until the end of the school year.
“By then, we’re going to be thinking about a whole list of other problems with tech because it’s moving way faster than that,” Brumer said.
“I understand that this is not the tech industry, and schools do not move that fast,” she added. “But I want to suggest that the urgency be taken a little bit more seriously because I think we’re already behind the curve, and that timeline is pretty long.”
Other school districts in the state have already taken action on technology use, specifically related to screen time for the youngest students.
Bellingham Public Schools decided in August it would remove iPads from kindergarten classrooms, according to Cascadia Daily News. And last month The Seattle Times reported that students in kindergarten through second grade at Seattle Public Schools will no longer have assigned iPads.
At Methow Valley Elementary School, students work from Chromebooks, and kindergartners use tablets to take assessment tests. At a school board meeting last month, some parents expressed concerns about the kindergarten assessments and the use of Google and YouTube in the elementary school.
Where’s the emphasis?
At last week’s meeting, parent Annika Mines questioned why the working group would consider technology in such a broad sense, including its applications in CTE, without putting more emphasis on technology use in the elementary school.
“There’s only like 20 high school kids taking automotive tech. There’s like 200 or 300 kids in elementary school who I am concerned about — their access to technology and what kinds of technology is available to them,” Mines said.
School board member Ben Avery had his own concerns about the working group’s ambitious mission given the group’s size, at eight to 12 members. Storey and the board decided to accept applications for all working group positions, rather than hand-selecting members.
“I do believe the breadth of the scope is important, but I think it’s a lot to ask a relatively small committee to take on,” Avery said. “I just would like to at least inquire about whether there’s inherent flexibility in growing this working group.”
Storey said the group could change if needed.
“There has to be some flexibility and there has to be some adaptability built into the process,” he said.
Board member Boo Schneider said the working group’s scope, and its speed, were appropriate.
“We all wish everything could happen overnight, but I think it’s going to be thorough, and we’ll all learn a lot,” she said. “What we have laid before us will be a pretty remarkable achievement.”
