School board responds to T2, technology concerns from public | Education
School board responds to T2, technology concerns from public | Education
Publish Date: 2026-05-20 13:48:00
Source Domain: www.williamsonherald.com
At Monday night’s regular monthly Williamson County Board of Education meeting, public speakers prompted a discussion among board members about the district’s Transition 2 program, and the use of technology—specifically Chromebooks—in and out of the classroom.
Technology in schools
Jackie Tulumaris and Ally Lifsey highlighted their concerns about technology during the public comment portion of the meeting.
Lifsey said the use of Chromebooks on school buses has resulted in nonconsensual photography and inappropriate behavior.
“When my now third grader started kindergarten, it took her two weeks to come off the bus and tell me that an older boy had pictures of butts on his Chromebooks. She was five. Separately, kids were taking nonconsenting photos of other children on the bus, using Chromebook cameras and editing them in inappropriate or unkind ways,” she said.
Lifsey said that the district learned about these issues from her, “not the other way around.”
She questioned the benefits of Chromebooks in schools, noting data that shows these devices “actually hinder learning instead of helping.”
“My ask is that if Chromebooks can’t be eliminated entirely at younger ages, that student devices function as a portal to a small number of evidence-based apps and a tightly whitelisted browser with Google blocked entirely,” she said.
Tulumaris asked the board to reevaluate the role of technology in schools, advocating for a strict away-for-the-day cell phone policy.
As a parent who does not allow social media or unsupervised internet access and practices limited screen time at home with her children, Tulumaris said, “The moment my kid walks into our classrooms, that protection is gone, and that is not acceptable.”
She called technology a once educational tool turned “catastrophic disaster.”
“Students are losing the basic fundamentals of…
