Harford schools rethink student tech, may end individual devices for youngest students

Harford County Public Schools is expanding a pilot program that limits when students can access their school-issued devices after receiving positive feedback from parents.

The district tested overnight restrictions at Youth’s Benefit Elementary School and Aberdeen Middle School earlier this school year.

According to an HCPS Intentional and Purposeful Use of Classroom Technology presentation given to the Board of Education on Oct. 26, the restrictions will expand to additional elementary and middle schools at the beginning of the second quarter.

At participating elementary schools, student devices cannot be accessed between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. At participating middle schools, devices are unavailable between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.

The district is also considering a bigger change for its youngest students. HCPS is exploring ending its one-to-one device program for kindergarten and first-grade students beginning in the 2027-28 school year, meaning those students would no longer each receive their own school-issued device.

The district uses Google's Device Restriction Schedule, which closes active sessions and prevents students from signing back into their devices during those hours.

The changes are part of a broader effort by Harford County Public Schools to make technology use more intentional. The district says students at all grade levels should only use their devices for a clear instructional purpose and when directed by a teacher.

Elementary students also no longer have access to YouTube or open web searches on their school-issued devices. The district is continuing to look at how YouTube is used for instruction at the middle school level before deciding whether additional restrictions are needed there.

The district said it expanded the overnight pilot after positive feedback from parents at both schools where it initially tested the restrictions.

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