Some teachers in Manatee County say things are not going as smoothly as planned this first week of school.
They’re upset because they’re having difficulty passing out their daily lessons.
“I know absolutely no teacher who is not upset by this,” said Jill Harden, a high school teacher.
Hardin and Beverly Wolfkill, an elementary school teacher, are not upset with students or administrators at their schools, but rather a lack of technology.
They said to their surprise, when they returned to their classrooms, their printers were gone.
“So we have eight teachers sharing one printer which is located in a teacher’s room, so if you want a copy you have to send a student,” said Wolfkill.
This summer, 2,100 printers were removed from schools and district offices after the district’s printers’ provider, Sun Printers, refused to renew their contract.
As a result, the 2,600 teachers in the district are now sharing printers. Twenty are now in every elementary school, 30 are at every middle school and 40 are at every high school.
Mandy Kersey, a parent, said she worries sharing printers will lead to confidential information being shared.
“I don’t want Sally Joe knowing how my kids are doing,” said Kersey. “If they are printing it, how do I know someone else isn’t going to pick it up or see it? It’s a major issue.”
To try and help, some teachers asked to bring in their own personal printers from home. However, they were told they could not.
In a letter to district staff, Don Hall, the Deputy Superintendent of Operations, said;
“As for the personal devices, yes there is a liability issue on several levels. First if you or one of your students were injured in some way using the printer, then the district’s insurance would not cover those claims since it is not district equipment. It would go to your personal insurance coverage.
Also, if there was some type of unforeseen event where the printer malfunctioned and short circuited the classroom or school or even further, heaven forbid, caused a fire then you would be directly responsible for any costs occurring from those events. Those may seem extreme, but they have and do occur.
The district also cannot provide any technical support for this device or its network connectivity since if anything goes wrong, the district would be liable for your personal device. As a result, we do not provide any service on personal property.”
Hardin said she and her co-workers were surprised to hear this.
“Teachers bring in furniture, books, I mean everything under the sun is what teachers bring in, so if one thing is a safety hazard, so is everything else,” she said.
Also upset about the printing issue is School Board Vice Chair, David “Watchdog” Miner. He said he only learned about the printer issue through teachers. He’s hoping more will be done to help them.
“I’m concerned about kids right now and the message we’re giving to teachers that we’re not going to provide them support,” said Miner.
The district said they are trying to help. They plan on adding more printers to schools in the coming weeks and they’re currently working on a long term printing plan.