Latest news with #TimSavoy
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Yahoo
What is the 'Chromebook Challenge'? Texas school district warns of dangerous TikTok trend
A dangerous TikTok trend spreading to school districts around the country has made its way into Texas schools. School officials are warning students against the challenge that risks serious injury and damage to school property. Known as the "Chromebook Challenge" or the "Chromebook Durability Test," the trend involves children and teens inserting paper clips or other metal items into the USB port of their school-issued laptops. The act is meant to create sparks and smoke from the Chromebook and may even cause the device to catch on fire. The issue has prompted concern in schools in several states. A 15-year-old New Jersey student has even been charged with third-degree arson and criminal mischief, after his smoking Chromebook forced the entire high school to evacuate. School districts in New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and now Texas are alerting parents of the trend and urging them to warn their children against participating. Hays Consolidated Independent School District (CISD) sent a warning to parents, informing them of the social media challenge responsible for the destruction of school property. According to the Central Texas school district, a total of five Chromebooks had been ruined in under two days. The incidents spanned three schools throughout the district: a high school, a middle school and an elementary school. "Please help us by taking a minute today to mention to your children that if they see this social media challenge that they shouldn't participate," the district's spokesperson, Tim Savoy, said in an email. "Intentional damage to school district devices will lead to an expensive equipment replacement bill for the student, and possibly worse — having to explain to a judge what they were thinking." Students who jam school supplies into the USB ports of their school laptops are risking more than just a fire. Dr. Greg Sugalski, the Hackensack University Medical Center's acting chair of the emergency department, told Yahoo! that the melting plastic can release toxic chemicals into the air. These can irritate students' noses, eyes and lungs. Holding metal to electrical ports can also cause burns. "It can make the computer's lithium ion battery explode and cause a large fire, and there is a risk of smoke inhalation as this trend causes the computer to smoke, burning electrical equipment and plastic," Dr. Sugalski said. While each student can have unique motivations for participating in the "Chromebook Challenge" trend, many have speculated on several possibilities. The most obvious reason students may be hopping on the trend is for social media engagement. Videos of such incidents are flooding TikTok, despite the platform flagging the "#chromebookchallenge" tag and replacing search results with a safety warning. In the case of Connecticut schools forced to evacuate, students may be seeking to disrupt class or get out of doing work. Students may also be engaging in the challenge to get attention, whether from parents and teachers or from other students. They may also mistakenly see the trend as a "harmless" prank. — North Jersey's Kyle Morel contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: 'Chromebook Challenge': Texas schools warn of dangerous TikTok trend
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Yahoo
Hays CISD laptops damaged due to social media challenge
HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — School district officials across the country are warning students against a social media trend directing them to short-circuit their school-issued laptops. Officials said students record themselves short-circuiting their laptops or puncturing the lithium batteries, which causes the battery's temperature to rise uncontrollably. RELATED STORY: Students deliberately short-circuiting school laptops as part of social media trend The trend made its way to Central Texas and impacted the Hays Consolidated Independent School District. In an email sent to families on Thursday, Hays CISD said 'this is dangerous and damaging. There is a risk of fire, skin burns, and electrical shock – and of course the loss of a Chromebook.' Hays CISD Spokesperson Tim Savoy said a total of 12 laptops were damaged. 'Please help us by taking a minute today to mention to your children that if they see this social media challenge that they shouldn't participate. Intentional damage to school district devices will lead to an expensive equipment replacement bill for the student, and possibly worse – having to explain to a judge what they were thinking,' the email read. Savoy told KXAN those Chromebooks are a little more than $300 each. The student would be responsible to pay that back. 'That's $3,600 – $4,000 of taxpayer money that was put in jeopardy.' Tim Savoy, Hays CISD Spokesperson If the trend continues, Savoy said the consequence might escalate. 'Intentionally damaging public property can be considered a crime,' Savoy said. 'We certainly wouldn't want to have to refer it off to criminal activity.' KXAN is checking with other local school districts to see if they've experienced any issues with this as well. We'll update this story when we hear back. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hays CISD voters to consider almost $1 billion bond package
HAYS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) – Three independent school districts in booming Hays County have elections Saturday to support current and future growth. Hays CISD voters will consider the largest of the three bond packages in the county. Voters are being asked to approve a $968.35 bond package to support the anticipated growth of Hays County's biggest school district. Hays County voters to consider $1.6 billion worth of bond packages across 3 school districts District officials expect the total student population to increase by over 11,000 students in the next five years. There were a little over 24,000 students enrolled in Hays CISD schools at the start of the 2024-2025 school year. The district said it only has the capacity for 26,882 students – just over 2,000 more students than are currently enrolled. 'In the most simple terms, we're growing. We're growing about 1,000 kids a year. We're projected to grow that many, if not a little more, every year for the next decade,' Tim Savoy, a spokesperson for Hays CISD, told KXAN in December 2024. 'The urgent needs are classroom space and infrastructure,' Savoy continued. 'And not just adding new space, but maintaining older facilities and bringing them up to newer standards in terms of technology.' The 2025 bond package includes five propositions: Prop A includes around $500 million worth of projects that aim to facilitate growth, improve safety and rehabilitate aging campuses. If passed, the district could build its 18th elementary school, rehabilitate and expand eight schools and acquire land for future schools. If Hays CISD voters pass $396 million Prop B, the district can cover all of the necessary costs required to create its fourth high school. Prop C provides around $6 million worth of funding to expand the sub-varsity stadium, including the construction of high school #4 to a capacity beyond 1,000 seats, according to the district. If Prop D passes, it will provide over $50 million to build four fine arts and athletics activity centers for each of the three existing high schools and high school #4. If voters approve Prop E, the district will have around $16 million to upgrade antiquated systems, including instructional devices, photocopiers and network systems. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hays school district asks voters to approve $968M in bonds for new schools, expansions
The Hays school district is asking voters on May 3 to approve $968.6 million in bonds that would pay for several projects, including a new high school, two new elementary schools, several school expansions and an outdoor pavilion for athletic and fine arts activities. It also would pay for new school buses with seatbelts. In March 2024 a concrete truck driver hit a Hays school district bus carrying students from Tom Green Elementary and their families on a field trip. Two people were killed, including a child in the bus that had no seatbelts. Dozens of other bus passengers were rushed to hospitals with cuts and bruises. "At that time, the district made a plan to accelerate getting buses that had seatbelts," said Tim Savoy, the district's communication officer. Ninety percent of the district's regular buses are now equipped with seatbelts, said Savoy. If voters approve the buses requested in the bond, he said, all of the district's regular school buses will have seatbelts. Among 13 Central Texas school districts, an American-Statesman analysis in November found that only four have bus fleets fully outfitted with seat belts while four others have at least 75% of their fleets with restraints. More: Deadly Hays crash reveals Texas school buses lack seat belts: 'They should know better.' The proposed bond package, which is split into five different propositions, is the biggest in the district's history, Savoy said. During the bond election in 2023, voters approved $315.7 million in bonds but they turned down the outdoor pavilions for fine arts and athletics that are included in this year's bond package. If approved, Savoy said, the bonds this year would not raise property tax rates because the growth in the county is expected to bring in more revenue. Hays County had 292,029 residents in July 2024, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Census. The estimated population in 2020 was 241,067. More: Hays CISD could call almost $900M bond vote to expand, build schools More: Hays school district calls $368 million bond. Here's what district hopes to get. "We are growing anywhere from 800 to 1,000 kids a year and that is projected to continue for the next decade or more," said Savoy. The current student population of 24,144 is expected to grow to 45,019 by 2034, according to district figures. The district, which covers 221 square miles, serves the cities of Kyle and Buda and other areas in northern Hays County. The five bond propositions are: Proposition A: $498.9 million is proposed for these projects: Hays High School: Academic expansion to accommodate 2,800 students, renovation of cafeteria and other maintenance and improvement projects. Johnson High School: New weight room and additional parking. Lehman High School: Academic expansion to 2,800 student capacity, new all-purpose gym, kitchen addition and cafeteria renovation, new weight room Artificial turf at all middle schools Wallace Middle School: Running tracks to be resurfaced to maintain safety and proper playability McCormick Middle School: Running track to be resurfaced to maintain safety, weight room and locker room additions, art room renovation, driveway expansion, utility renovation, athletic turf and track improvements, temporary portable building relocation Simon Middle School: Academic expansion to 1,200 student capacity, weight room and locker room renovation, performing arts studio addition, art room renovation, athletic turf and track improvements Barton, Chapa and Dahlstrom middle schools: Athletic turf and track improvements, running tracks to be resurfaced to maintain safety and proper playability Elementary 18: Construction in northeast part of district, location to be determined. Elementary 19: Design, location to be determined. Hemphill, Fuentes, Kyle and Tom Green elementaries: Add classrooms and other additions to expand schools to 900-student capacity each, refresh amenities to be consistent with current elementary prototype Maintenance: Roof maintenance and replacement at Kyle, Negley, Science Hall and Tom Green elementaries, Barton and Chapa middle schools and Hays High School. Mechanical, electrical, plumbing and life safety system replacements at Kyle, Negley, Pfluger, Science Hall and Tom Green elementaries, Barton and Chapa middle schools, Hays High School and Shelton Stadium. Uhland Maintenance Facility: Construction of new facility Buses: Thirty buses, including 22 for daily transport. The other eight buses are activity buses with storage compartments for equipment including band instruments. Security: Parking lot access control buildings, districtwide re-key, wayfinding signage Career & Technical Education: Cycle replacement of tools and equipment; addition of Fire Academy burn tower; purchase of self-contained breathing apparatus, packs and accessories Athletics and fine arts: Cycle replacements including but not limited to uniforms, equipment and instruments Proposition B: $396 million is proposed for comprehensive high school #4. The district has three traditional high schools with activities including band, sports and theater, and one high school for early graduation and self-paced students, The new high school will be designed for 2,800 students at Main Street and Turnersville Road in Buda and will open in 2029. Proposition C: $6 million to expand the sub varsity stadium at the Bob Shelton Stadium. The seating capacity will be expanded to allow for a second, shared district varsity competition space to accommodate the new high school. The anticipated total capacity will be approximately 8,500 people. Proposition D: $51.3 million for construction and equipping of four outdoor, covered and lighted athletics and fine arts educational, rehearsal and performance facilities. The facilities will be at Hays, Johnson and Lehman high schools, and comprehensive high school #4. Proposition E: $16.2 million for technology. This would replace old network campus data switches; provide uninterruptible power supplies for campuses; provide voltage regulation and stable power for expensive network equipment and replace phone systems at all campuses because the manufacturer no longer supports the current phone system. It also would provide non-brand specific tablets, computers and laptops for student use at campuses; replace old, outdated or broken school campus sound systems; replace outdated district printshop machines and provide new copiers to save money instead of leasing them. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: What voters get if they approve $968M bond package for Hays schools
