Blue Heron Elementary School

Who made this decision?

This decision was made by Cabinet.

Why was this decision made?

• To protect the health and safety of our students, their families, and our staff
• To provide summer access to online learning, including Jeffco Summer of Early Learning, and continued access to online learning tools
• While we all are optimistic about returning to our physical school buildings in August, in the event we must continue remote learning, students will already have their devices and we will not have to coordinate another deployment
  
  

Why can’t my school make our own decision about devices that we or our PTA/PTO/etc. paid for?

A district-wide decision was made to ensure equity and consistent messaging and ultimately to protect the health and safety of our students, their families, and our staff.

 

What educational/instructional supports will be available over the summer?

• Jeffco Ed Tech tools will remain available to students over the summer and will provide some ideas for instructional summer use. Documents are being finalized for elementary and secondary options and will be linked up when available.
• Some online learning tools such as Lexia, Moby Max, Prodigy, iStation may also be available over the summer to students. Schools will be working with vendors to determine access to these tools and will communicate that information to their families.
  
  

Do students have to complete these assignments/activities? What are the benefits of doing them?

No. Unless a student is in JSEL or ESY, optional summer learning is at the parent or guardian’s discretion. These optional activities are designed to allow students to engage in our Jeffco Generation Skills independently and to pursue personal interests and needs.

Will video conferencing tools such at Google Meet and Zoom be available over the summer for social connections?

This is unlikely. Students enrolled in formal online summer learning will have access to these tools as a part of their learning experience.

Will there be any technical support available for families during the summer?

Jeffco IT will maintain the parent support phone number and device distribution/exchange sites for the summer. If needed, you can call 303-982-3438 to receive technical support and/or to arrange drop off for a device repair.

 

What happens if something on the device breaks or needs repaired over the summer?

Families should call 303-982-3438 to arrange to drop off a device for Jeffco IT to perform the needed repairs. Please do not take Jeffco devices to an external vendor for repairs.  

Who will be responsible for the cost to repair devices over the summer?  

• Non Accidental Damages: These are damages like malfunctioning motherboards or broken device fans. Depending on the age of the device, these may be covered under warranty. If not, schools typically cover the costs of these repairs on school-owned devices and Jeffco IT covers the cost of these repairs for TechForEd devices.
• Accidental Damages: Break a screen or keyboard key? Those are considered Accidental Damages. As school staff are not available over the summer, when you notify Jeffco IT that you have a damaged device that needs repair, Jeffco IT prepares a cost estimate for you to see and approve at the time that you drop off your device. If the actual repair cost exceeds the estimate, we will work to contact you to approve the additional charges before applying them to your student’s account. All labor costs will be waived for these repairs.

 

My student lost their AC adapter. How can they receive a new one?

Jeffco IT stocks AC adapters for common devices and can sell them to families (our current price is lower than Amazon’s). If you need a new adapter, please call 303-982-3438 to arrange purchase and pick up.

Another option is to purchase one off of Amazon. It is critical that only this charger be purchased, since it is the exact model that came with the device. Off-brand chargers often damage the device.

 

What about my senior’s device?

Please look for forthcoming directions from your school. Schools are planning end of year pick-up/drop-off schedules and your devices will be collected then.

 

What about my 8th grader’s device?

8th grade students will keep their devices over the summer. The IT Department will develop and communicate a plan to collect and return school-owned devices to their home schools--while distributing new TechForEd devices to these incoming 9th grade students--prior to the beginning of the 2020-2021 school so that schools may redistribute those devices.

 

What about my 5th grader’s device?

Your 5th grader should have a TechForEd device that they received at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year (or when they joined Jeffco Public Schools this past year). That device will be theirs--so they just keep it and take it to middle school with them--until they finish 8th grade at which point they will return it and get a new TechForEd device as they begin 9th grade.

 

What if my family is moving over the summer? How should we return our student’s device?

Options for device return include: Dropping off a device at Quail, dropping off a device at an area distribution site, or requesting a prepaid box be mailed to any location (procedure document). Please call 303-982-3438 to coordinate the return of your student's device.

My student’s device has been displaying a message saying it is reaching End of Life (EOL) at the end of this school year. Do we need to do something about that?

No. Jeffco will not disable any End of Life devices until next school year. EOL devices will continue to function but may experience limited compatibility due to the device age and inability to receive the latest operating system. We will determine if we need to swap out these devices for the 2020-2021 school year as we have a better understanding of what our environment will be.

 

Can I view my student’s activity on their Jeffco device?

Yes. The SecurlyHome App allows parents/guardians to track activity on their student’s device. More information is available here.

Can I limit my student’s activity on their Jeffco device?

Yes, parents/guardians have the right to completely take away the device over the summer if they choose to do so. You will also be able to limit activity on the device over the summer through the SecurlyHome App. This functionality will be activated and documentation will be available before the end of the school year.

What if I do not want my student(s) to have/use their device(s) over the summer?

To help us protect the health and safety of our staff and your family, please consider the following options:

• Limiting your student’s device capabilities through the SecurlyHome App
• Taking your student’s device away and storing it in a safe location at home
  • If possible, we’d ask that you power on the device once a month to install any updates and to help preserve the battery capacity.
  • Here are instructions for putting devices into long term storage:
    • Chromebooks
    • iPads
• If your family has an extenuating circumstance in which having the device at home over the summer poses a substantial threat or risk to your student, please reach out to your school’s principal to determine the best solution.