cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/50769795
At least one Kansas district is projecting $150,000 to $180,000 just to equip secondary students with individual phone lockers, according to the Wichita Eagle. The state provided zero dedicated funding. Every dollar comes from local budgets.
Districts choosing fabric locking pouches — think Yondr, the magnetic-lock system concert venues use to keep audiences present — face an estimated $30 per unit. Statewide, the Kansas Division of the Budget put that figure at roughly $13.4 million if every student received one, according to the Lawrence KS Times. Lockers require a steeper upfront investment. Neither option came with a state check attached.
Legislators passed the policy. The price tag was someone else’s problem.
12 Comments
riskable@programming.dev · 19 pts · 16d
Perhaps I'm a bit weird, but things like this bother me in ways that nobody else seems to think about:
They talk about these complicated technical solutions when all that's necessary is a very thin, very small traditional locker. Make the kids bring their own lock! That's what we did with lockers when I was in high school in the 90s.
Those old school steel lockers were certified for fire resistance, BTW. Not because they went through some special certification process, but because they were steel and painted with school-certified paint (which every school district already has plenty of).
Postmortal_Pop@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 16d
Hey, Kansan here. Every single high school in Kansas has welding as an elective. They literally could have make those in house and used them as a teaching point.
More importantly, why do the need a dedicated phone jail when you can just have numbered pigeon holes in the office?
cattywampas@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 16d
Kansas has at least 400 high schools, so $450 per school. That sounds reasonable to me to install some new lockers.
leadore@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 16d
No, that was for one particular school district. Per the article,
OfCourseNot@fedia.io · 5 pts · 16d
It's $180k just one school district. Not specified if the number of schools/students in this district is above or below the average, but a quick search tells there are 332 schools districts in Kansas.
frongt@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 16d
Where are you getting those numbers from? Certainly not from the article.
Zahille7@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 16d
I saw the video and the guy collecting the phones was ordering kids up one at a time like a damn prison guard or some shit. Like the very least you could do is be nice about it.
I have issues with this whole thing, but like you don't have to be such a fucking dick.
areakode@riskeratspizza.com · 11 pts · 16d
Don't they already have those? They're called "Lockers".
digitalFatteh@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 16d
Tin Foil Hat time Now they are all nicely snug and secure in a central location they can inject and take off anything they want to track all kids all under the guise of security.
SGGeorwell@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 16d
We should take some of the settlement money from Meta and make an endowment for this purpose.
52fighters@lemmy.sdf.org · 1 pts · 15d
The problem isn't the phone policy. Digital technology reduces classroom learning. The problem is that the bureaucrats that run our schools cannot fathom a lower cost solution and are poor stewards of public money. That's why they spend $18k per child per year in a low cost of living state and still pay teachers beggars salaries.
JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 10d
Or just a firewall on wifi and a cell jammer?