Natalia Milcheva, freshman, has been using her personal computer instead of a Chromebook this entire school year, but after Principal Dr. Tracey Waeckerle sent a message last week about personal devices, Milcheva will not be able to use her personal computer anymore.
She said that using her personal computer gives her more freedom, such as being able to use pictures stored in her files. She was not aware of the rule of students not being allowed to use personal computers until the email was sent out.
Milcheva said that while she was using her personal computer, she was on the school WiFi, so it shouldn’t have made much of a difference which device she chose to use.
“It’s not like I’m doing anything wrong or can do anything wrong even if I wanted to,” Milcheva said.
None of Milcheva’s teachers or peers have said anything to her about this rule the entire year. She said everyone was okay with her using her personal computer, and some people even complimented her computer case.
“For me, I don’t see the difference between using my computer and using the school computer,” Milcheva said.
Milcheva said she does not like and agree with the rule being enforced, and though she doesn’t think it will make too big of a difference on her life, she did say she will have less freedom.

The student’s use of personal computers came to Dr. Waeckerle’s attention after teachers brought up the disturbance they’ve caused.
Dr. Waeckerle sent out an email on Friday, Jan. 17, to remind students that the use of personal computers during school the school day is prohibited.
“It shouldn’t have been going on in the first place to be quite honest,” Dr. Waeckerle said.
Dr. Waeckerle said district Chromebooks are protected under the district’s content filter, there’s security programing installed on the Chromebooks that prevent cybersecurity issues.
If a website that a student needs to access is blocked, they should contact their teachers, and the teacher can put in a request to open certain websites, Dr. Waeckerle said.
Dr. Waekerle said the limitation on personal device use is meant to ensure that students don’t use materials inappropriately.
“That’s a safety concern for us that we’re not able to monitor what students are accessing during the school day,” Dr. Waeckerle said.
Disciplinary actions for using your personal computer will be the same as the cell phone policy, first a referral, next a one-hour detention, and so on, Dr. Waeckerle said.
Ayush Vasireddy, sophomore, started bringing his personal computer to school at the start of the year because it allowed him easier access to articles he needed for his classes.
“My home laptop has a better screen and it helps me do all of my tasks easier and organize them,” Vasireddy said.
Vasireddy said this rule is being enforced because of people misusing their personal computers, such as playing games on it when they aren’t supposed to.
Vasireddy said he doesn’t agree with this rule as he wants to use his personal computer, but he does recognize that enforcement of district-issued Chromebooks will benefit productivity in classes.
“I feel more people will be on task now and do their work,” Vasireddy said.