Fairfax County’s school board recently passed a resolution supporting limitations on screen time and access to devices by grade level, as well as opt-out options for families.
On the same night, members voted to approve a one-year extension of a contract for a hybrid fourth-grade social studies curriculum, covering an electronic book text, the ability to replace print textbooks as needed, and supplemental materials that can be printed.
While the statement of principle on the responsible use of “instructional technology” and the digital curriculum vote created an awkward juxtaposition — one that did not go unnoted at the June 25 meeting — school board members said the temporary $175,000 contract extension was the only way to ensure universal access to the textbook for about 15,000 students.
Currently, Fairfax County Public Schools only has enough print versions of the textbook, “Our Virginia: Past and Present,” for shared use. A planned transition to print was delayed for a year due to spending cuts.
“I understand it’s a small contract. It’s just for fourth graders who are 15,000 children in our school division, I believe,” said Melanie Meren, who represents the Hunter Mill District on the school board. “But without a policy, colleagues, our default is to allow digital learning and promote use of devices.”
Meren said she was going to vote in favor of approving the contract extension with the publisher Five Ponds Press Books to ensure students have a social studies textbook at all, but she was frustrated by FCPS continuing “to put devices in front of children.”
About eight students and parents had testified earlier in the evening calling for various limitations on technology in the classroom. One parent said she was withdrawing her child in favor of private school due to an overreliance on devices.
Mount Vernon District Representative Mateo Dunne said he would also support the contract extension “with great reluctance, and hopefully with commitment to bring back and include in next year’s proposed budget textbooks for this, and for other areas as well.”
He noted that change can cause ripple effects.
“Given the advocacy by parents — which seems to be accelerating nationwide and internationally — we need to be thinking about what a return to paper books, textbooks looks like,” he said.
Dranesville District Representative Robyn Lady said that no matter what FCPS winds up purchasing, she would like to have an electronic copy available, given the ability for students to do things such as highlight text and search for words in the glossary.
“I want to put that out there, that for some learners, just a textbook would set them back in how they learn,” said Lady. “And for some learners having a hard copy is going to propel them forward.”
In response to the members’ questions, superintendent Michelle Reid said she would work with staff to see what was possible in terms of monitoring how the materials were delivered.
Advocates reached by FFXnow after the meeting said that the continued use of digital textbooks was disheartening, given testimony by students, including a fourth-grader, that they were spending hours a day on devices.
Manasi Pandit Long, a physician and member of FCPS Parents for Intentional Tech — a community group that has rallied extensively for more guardrails around the use of technology in schools — said that “the mode of delivery matters in education.”
“There are countless studies showing that students learn far more from print textbooks when compared to digital ones,” Pandit Long said. “FCPS’ job is not just to provide materials but to ensure that they are safe, accessible, and effective in teaching our children. When will they stop renewing digital contracts and deferring on our children’s education?”
Jennifer Cheng, the group’s co-founder, expressed appreciation for the school board members “who questioned the contract renewal.”
“FCPS has acknowledged that physical books are better than digital books, and each additional year on screens means another cohort of 9- and 10-year-olds will learn Virginia history through a device,” she said.
“We support moving as quickly as possible towards physical textbooks for most students, while still encouraging e-textbooks for the students who best learn from them. Moving fully to print would be consistent with the recently adopted school board resolution on responsible instructional technology.”
