When did students first use a calculator in school?

Answer 1

They first appeared in my High School in early 1974, but the teachers forbad their use on tests (as only a very few students with wealthier than average parents had them). Typical prices were over $300.

I got my first calculator as a Christmas present (that I selected myself) that year, it cost $100 and had only 12 functions and a 6 digit display (many of the functions only calculated to 2 digit accuracy, the same as a sliderule). Battery life was very short (nonrechargeable) and I occasionally had the batteries die right in the middle of a calculation.