Petition for Intentional Technology Use in San Mateo-Foster City Schools

A campaign from Intentional Tech in Schools - San Mateo-Foster City School District

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Recent supporters:
Angela Steffes 24 minutes ago Jennifer Chang about 12 hours ago Amy Chen about 14 hours ago

Why This Matters

Major school districts across the country — including Los Angeles Unified School District — are beginning to reevaluate classroom screen time by exploring stronger oversight, grade-level limits, increased parent transparency, and more developmentally balanced approaches to technology use in schools.

San Mateo-Foster City School District has the same opportunity to lead proactively. School boards already have the authority to establish thoughtful policies and guardrails surrounding screen use in schools.

Many of the technology practices currently embedded in classrooms were expanded rapidly during pandemic-related school closures and have remained in place with limited public discussion regarding long-term balance and developmental appropriateness. We believe it is both reasonable and necessary to reevaluate these systems moving forward.

If you share these concerns, we encourage you to sign and help support a more balanced and developmentally aligned approach to technology in education.

 
Dear Superintendent and Board Members of the San Mateo-Foster City School District,
We are writing as parents and community members to urge the San Mateo-Foster City School District to take urgent action regarding excessive screen dependence in our schools.
Schools have increasingly integrated 1:1 devices, digital apps, and online learning platforms into students’ daily education without meaningful assessment of educational benefit relative to potential developmental harms. At a time when children are already growing up amid unprecedented levels of digital exposure, learning environments should help restore balance rather than contribute further to excessive screen exposure.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and a growing body of research have raised concerns regarding excessive screen exposure in children, including impacts on attention, mental health, sleep, emotional regulation, and social development. 
Many parents and educators are already witnessing these concerns firsthand in classrooms and at home.
This is not simply a future issue to monitor — it is a present developmental and educational concern that deserves thoughtful action now.
We were encouraged by the news that the Los Angeles Unified School District — the second-largest school district in the nation — recently voted to develop and implement a formal Screen Time Policy with specific, enforceable limits beginning in the 2026–27 school year.
We hope to see our district, the San Mateo-Foster City School District, proactively establish and enforce a comprehensive screen time policy by the start of the 2026–27 school year as well.
Our Requests:
1. Eliminate devices for the youngest students. Remove digital devices from early education through 1st grade classrooms, except where required for mandated assessments. Children at this stage of development need hands-on, in-person learning experiences above all else.
2. Set specific, enforceable screen time limits by grade level. Establish clear daily and weekly maximums for student screen use on district devices, with less screen time for younger students. Screen time should be prioritized only when it provides educational value that cannot be replicated offline.
3. Reduce 1:1 device programs in elementary school. Transition to shared laptop carts, computer labs, and more intentional integration of technology in learning for grades 2–5. Students at this age are still developing foundational attention, social, emotional, and independent learning skills; therefore, learning environments should not allow opportunities for device use to become an automatic default.
4. Restrict non-educational content and entertainment platforms on school devices. Strengthen controls around YouTube, social media, gaming platforms, entertainment media, and other non-instructional content during the school day, while preserving teachers’ ability to use appropriate educational content intentionally and selectively.
5. Preserve device-free lunch, recess, passing periods, and other unstructured times (including free time in class). Ensure students have regular opportunities for offline social, creative, reflective, and independent activities during the school day, rather than screens becoming the automatic default or incentive during free time.
6. Provide parents with transparency and meaningful opt-out rights. Share weekly reports on students’ screen activity on district devices. Allow families to opt out of specific EdTech programs -- not just blanket consent forms — and ensure alternative learning methods are always available, including for students whose attentional, behavioral, sensory, or learning needs may make heavy screen-based instruction less effective or appropriate.
7. Equip students with digital wellness and media literacy education. Teach students age-appropriate skills for navigating an evolving digital world, including what safe online behavior looks like, the importance of balance between online and offline activities, and how apps, algorithms, and online platforms are designed to capture attention and encourage prolonged engagement.
8. Redesign curricula to incorporate more offline forms of learning. Increase paper-based learning, physical textbooks, and off-screen homework. While increased screen-based learning became necessary during pandemic-related school closures, this is no longer the case. Research has shown that print materials can support stronger comprehension, retention, depth of reading, and ease of reference. Increasing offline learning can also create more opportunities for parents to engage alongside and support their child’s learning at home.
9. Evaluate all EdTech contracts for educational value and student data privacy. Require independent review of EdTech products rather than relying solely on vendor-supplied research. Ensure student data is protected and that contracts include accountability mechanisms.
Living in the Bay Area, we recognize that technology can enhance learning in meaningful ways. As parents, we are committed to ensuring that technology enhances our children’s learning without replacing longstanding, well-established forms of education or interfering with the invaluable peer-to-peer interaction and social development that we rely on schools to help provide.
We also recognize that some students and families genuinely rely on access to school devices at home in order to study and complete schoolwork; those options should be made available by the school when needed. At the same time, returning to a less device-dependent curriculum will make learning more accessible and equitable for all students.
San Mateo-Foster City School District has a critical opportunity to help guide the inevitable shift toward more balanced technology use in schools, rather than wait to follow it.

Meaningful change will require strong support from families across our community. If you share these concerns, we encourage you to take action by signing this petition and forwarding it to other families who may feel similarly. Together, we can help support a more balanced and developmentally aligned approach to technology in education.
Every additional week students spend in unnecessarily screen-dependent learning environments represents missed opportunities for attention, learning, social connection, and healthy development.

The time to act is now.

Sincerely,
The undersigned


Recent Supporters

  • Angela Steffes

    Parent

    24 minutes ago

  • Jennifer Chang

    Parent

    about 12 hours ago

  • Amy Chen

    Supporter

    about 14 hours ago
139 supporters have signed this campaign

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