Ladue School District to Postpone One-to-One Learning Initiative

The Ladue administration will recommend to the board of education that it should postpone its discussion on the One-to-One learning initiative, a program that would give Ladue high school students their own computer. 

On Wednesday, the district first said the decision of whether or not to consider the initiative depended on funding only. However, leadership changes and a recent internet safety inicident made the district reconsider its stance.

“As a result of recent media attention regarding internet safety and recent changes announced in future district leadership, the administration will be making a formal recommendation to the Board to postpone the One-to-One Learning Initiative until a time when there is a more conducive climate for it succeeding,” said Ladue School District spokesperson Susan Dielmann in an announcement to parents.

The announcement comes days after an investigation was launched into an incident in which a Ladue Middle School student gained access to an online video chat website in a school computer, where the student was caught watching a middle-age man performing a sex act.

The district will make its formal recommendation to the board during a business meeting on Monday.

“This decision was reached jointly, with full agreement, by the administration and the district's Technology Board Advisory Committee,” Dielmann said in the announcement. “Many have worked hard to bring the program to this point, and it is with some regret the decision has been made to delay it.  It is the district's hope that with further discussion by parents, teachers and students, this program will move forward in the future.”