The days of using a pencil and paper for homework may become a thing of the past for some Pasco County students, but not everyone is happy about it.
Some parents at Chasco Elementary School in Port Richey recently received a note that read: “Paper homework will NOT be sent home due to budget cuts. Homework is now available online!”
That didn't sit well with parent Jill Piechocki.
“For a first grader to have to do their homework by the Internet, I just don’t think it is right,” she said.
It isn’t just that. Piechocki has limited access to the internet.
“It’s only through our cell phones," she said. "We don’t have a computer or internet or a printer here.”
According to Pew Research, 34 percent of people only have Internet access through their their cell phones. Other parents Bay News 9 spoke with found themselves in the same situation.
“We would have to get a computer and get online. It’s another expense,” parent Christina Rauchbauer said.
School district officials said the wording in the note is not accurate.
“There is no place where we are going to say that’s the only way that you can do it," district spokesperson Linda Cobbe said. "We have to make paper copies available to parents because not everyone has the technology."
School district officials say the move toward the Internet has nothing to do with budget cuts.
Even so, some parents say they don’t like where schools are headed.
“What are they going to learn on a mouse?” said parent Donna Gallaway. “There’s no erasing, there’s no correcting what they did wrong.”
“I don’t think everything should be online,” said Rauchbauer. "They aren’t even teaching cursive anymore."
As for Piechocki, she says she’d like homework to stay the old fashioned way.
“It’s the point of it being homework," she said. "It’s supposed to be sent home from the teacher. It’s how it’s been done for years.”
The district says a new note clarifying the error will be sent home by the end of the week.