As of the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year, the first time repair of a student’s Chromebook is no longer free. Although the costs for the second and third repairs remain the same, the fee for the first is now $25.

According to associate principal Dr. Ken Sorensen, this change was made after discussions with both the DGN and DGS technology departments. In past years, finding that students would come in with more than one problem to get fixed for their free first incident. Over the past three years, the cost of fixing several damages for free was cutting into the technology budget.

“The $25 fee helps to offset some of the cost for any additional repairs that may need to be made,” Dr. Sorensen said.
There was no advanced notice of the change in policy. Before the beginning of the school year, parents signed an electronic agreement regarding the Chromebook policy as a whole.

Senior Maximilian Miller shattered his chromebook screen last school year when the original policy was still in place. Miller already had a small issue with his Chromebook and decided he would wait until his senior year to get it all repaired at once.

Come senior year, Miller learned about the $25 fee from a friend who had gotten their Chromebook fixed under the new policy. Miller decided to refrain from getting his screen fixed at all.

“The initial free repair policy wasn’t smart because having that safety net made people care less about it because they thought they had a free repair and felt they didn’t need to treat it well and only started worrying once it’s been broken,” Miller said.

The new policy provides an incentive for some students to be more careful with their Chromebooks than they may have been under the prior policy.

“I’m definitely pretty careful with my Chromebook because I know my parents would make me pay for repairs and I don’t want to have to spend my own money,” freshman Emma Budnik said.