Pictures of destroyed school chromebooks next to cheap alternatives. Photo courtesy of senior Cassiopeia Mamaradlo.

  Since the dawn of time (during COVID-19 shutdowns), San Luis Obispo High School students have been given access to free school issued Chromebooks. What’s the problem with that? Well, the Chromebooks are from the dawn of time and deservingly need to be upgraded!

  It’s important to note that it is truly a great privilege to have numerous devices for our educational needs. However, it’s also okay to realize that with the increased funding for SLOHS, as evidenced by the glamorous renovations of SLOHS classrooms, students also should be able to get new devices.

  “My [Chromebook] takes forever to load anything and most of the stuff I do for school is through my Chromebook,” said senior Ava Rider.

 Thanks to SLCUSD’s Measure D plan of modernizing SLOHS, the Holt Stadium was renovated for about $8,079,000. Students loved the long needed upgrade and it gave our phenomenal athletes better facilities to keep winning. The same logic applies to our academics. The majority of SLOHS students maintain high GPAs, test scores, and take the funded state surveys, and they deserve their fair share of improvements and new facilities. 

  “It bothers me how everything’s blocked on the Chromebook and sometimes they’re really slow… especially things with AP Classroom, like AP Classroom will not load,” said senior Julie Vigil.

   On the bottom of almost every tiny, scratched up Chromebook states that they were manufactured around 2016, which makes it an eight year old device with four gigabytes of ram and sixteen gigabytes of storage. In simpler terms, it’s a technological relic that we should give a rest. Seriously though, there are alot of cheaper alternatives from this year that offer faster and more efficient specs.

  “Measure D’s funding started ten years ago and it was all put in the cafeteria, which was the last to get built [from the budget]… The district is responsible for… the upgrading and repairing of [Chromebooks]. But every year they’re buying new devices,” said SLOHS assistant principal Bernardo Salcido.

  While the budget for renovations and upgrades has been all used, it’s essential for the district and school to keep new student devices in mind.  By having the latest and advanced products, students can be motivated by the school’s investments and efficiently get work done with higher speeds. 

  Tigers, new Chromebooks are a win-win for both the district and students, so continue to raise awareness about upgrading our school’s devices!

Source: sanluisobispo.com