Naperville North High School junior Cameron McCloskey lost his go-to spelling tool Oct. 13 with no warning.

McCloskey, who has dyslexia, relied on the Grammarly browser extension to catch errors across websites and assignments on his district-issued Chromebook. That day, Naperville School District 203 blocked Grammarly on all student devices, as The North Star, Naperville North's student newspaper, first reported.

"I definitely relied on Grammarly; I don't know what I'm going to do now," McCloskey told The North Star.

Patrick Nolten, District 203's assistant superintendent for accountability, told the paper the extension interfered with Formative, the district's online assessment platform. The district's IT staff and administration made the call. Staff received six days' notice by email before the block took effect. Students received none.

McCloskey told The North Star he found Grammarly more accurate than Google Docs' built-in spell-check. He valued its ability to work across websites. Without it, he said he is unsure how to accommodate his needs.

Nolten told The North Star that students can still use Google Gemini, MagicSchool and Read&Write for AI-assisted editing on district devices. Formative also added a new built-in spell-check feature that teachers can toggle on or off. But none of the alternatives provide the same in-browser editing Grammarly offered, the paper reported.

Read&Write, one of the listed alternatives, is a literacy toolbar that works across Google Docs, websites and PDFs, according to its developer. It includes text-to-speech, word prediction and a grammar-check feature. Whether District 203 licenses Read&Write for all students or only some is unclear.

It is also unknown whether the district consulted its Special Education department or reviewed students' Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) and 504 plans before removing the tool. District 203's special education program assigns each student with an IEP to a case manager who coordinates accommodations, according to the district's website.

The District 203 Board of Education met Oct. 19 at the District Administrative Center, 203 W. Hillside Road. Whether the Grammarly decision appeared on the agenda or drew public comment is not reflected in available records. Families can submit comments to the board through the district's Let's Talk portal at naperville203.org.