According to Mrs. Corris, the recent wave of laptop checks are not due to one person’s mistake. In fact, the laptop checks are completely random, and have been conducted since the start of the one-to-one program. The random laptop checks, suspensions and privileges taken away are due to what students keep on their school laptop. Punishments have been ranged from Internet loss to suspension and even loss of laptop for a given time. To receive a laptop, each student signed a paper saying they understand the school’s policies and paid $50 for a warranty. “The $50 is a maintenance fee designed to keep up with the costs for replacement of non-warranty items,” Mrs. Corris said. Non-warranty items include keyboards, keys and chargers. The rules are part of the Technology Policy #185. Every student signed the contract establishing that he or she knew the regulations of the technology. Students’ parents signed the contract as well stating that they knew what the policy permitted. Signed consent hasn’t stopped some students from breaching the contract, however. Mrs. Corris has been cracking down on students about the rules. Suspicion isn’t required for a laptop to be checked. She also said that it is possible that every laptop that passes through Mr. Hickey’s temporary possession may be checked. When it comes down to the punishments, every student has an opinion. For example, Junior Zachary Wilson shares a negative take on the checks. “For the most part, they are unfair. Not letting a student use the Internet is like not letting a student use a pencil or paper,” Wilson said. Although, Junior Tippin Harkins said “I find [the rules] fair for the fact that there is some form of punishment [in] having certain programs on your laptop.” Despite the students’ opinions on the matter, Mrs. Corris won’t back down. “The consequences are spelled out in the student handbook,” she said. “When students sign the policy handout when they get the laptop at the beginning of the year, they are aware of what issues could be a possible source for a consequence.” Available punishments include anything from detention to In-School Suspension, Out of School Suspension, expulsion and loss of Internet or laptop use for a varying period of time. Mrs. Corris said students who lose Internet privileges would not be able to use their own wireless Internet cards. “When the Internet is disabled on their laptop, the student has lost the privilege to access our school network on the computer; an Internet card would not work on the laptop,” Mrs. Corris said.