Lawrence school board members on Monday gave initial approval to a draft cell phone policy, despite district administrators proposing guidance that directly conflicts with the draft as it’s written.
Board member Anne Costello said she was “a little surprised” when reviewing a two-page document that was attached to the board’s agenda sometime after Saturday but before the meeting Monday.
The document offers guidance for implementing the policy, including permitting middle schoolers access to their phones during lunchtime and high schoolers during lunchtime and passing periods. The policy draft says personal cell phones and devices must be “turned off and stored out of sight at all times during school hours.”
“Some of the things that we talked about was, you know, minimizing the impact of social media during the day, but allowing students to access their phones — we’ve now negated that,” Costello said. “And I understand trying to do things that are developmentally appropriate; however, some of these things, I think, will then also cause us to have issues.”
Board President Kelly Jones asked administrators what the purpose is of allowing pockets of access, specifically in middle school, which currently prohibits cell phone use at all during the school day.
Three out of the four middle school principals requested it, according to Waymond Ervin, director of secondary schools.
“I think part of it that I heard was about the need for some students, not all, to have that moment to decompress from class — some introverted students,” Kiley Luckett, mental health coordinator, said. “And maybe they’re reading, maybe they’re doing other things during their lunch period on that phone, but having that time to reset themselves, ground themselves, and that is something that they can do with their device, was kind of where that came from more than anything.”
High school students, unlike elementary and middle, would be allowed phone use during passing periods, based on the guidance.
The guidance also says schools will follow a “not on, not seen, not heard” mantra, meaning phones that are audible or visible will be in violation. Limiting cell phone use is meant to improve academics by limiting classroom distractions, develop social skills and improve mental health.
The policy draft states that other personal electronic devices, such as smartwatches and iPads, are prohibited. But Interim Superintendent Jeanice Swift said the district will begin with just focusing on cell phones, which board Vice President GR Gordon-Ross said he supported.
“We’re starting with phones,” Gordon-Ross said. “We’re gonna get phones under control first, and then we’ll go with other stuff. We can’t — it’s a big elephant, and we’re going to start with where we can start. We can’t solve the problem in a day.”
Jones challenged his sentiment a bit, saying students can make other electronic devices just as accessible as their phones, and Costello agreed; however, Swift was adamant that the district will use a phased approach.
Consequences are tentative, too, Swift said. It’s unclear, in both the draft policy and in the guidance, what specific actions teachers should take if students don’t comply with the new policy.
“I’m going to ask to work with our teams and really work through that systemic change,” Swift said. “That does not mean there are no consequences. It means we’re working for the change, not to ‘Let’s make a deal: Oh, I’ll take five detentions if I can get on my phone.’ There is no price to get on the phone. So that is my hesitation, because I know how systems change works, and we will work through this process.”
A group of approximately 80 Lawrence educators signed a petition at the end of last school year that requested the district require phones to be stored from the first bell until the last bell of the day. Some teachers who spoke to the board in June said they have to use their discretion when responding to cell phone disruptions, which can cause conflict with students and the instructional time.
Justin Blumenstiel, Free State High School parent, has been an avid proponent of a cell phone ban and organized a group of parents to support the teachers’ petition. He told the board Monday he was concerned that teachers would still bear the burden of enforcing. A uniform policy is ideal, he said.
“I will say, as a parent, I was a little confused about the discrepancy between the policy and the advice, or the guidance,” Blumenstiel said. “Because it seems like policy would come first and then the guidance would follow, and it seemed like the guidance was speaking to the policy.”
Board members agreed either the policy draft should be amended or the district’s guidance should be modified, which Jones said will be a continued discussion.
“What’s important to me is how we get to where we want to go is by guidance, and if your guidance isn’t clear and directed towards your policy, then you’re going to end up with your policy not being followed,” board member Bob Byers said.
The board narrowly met quorum Monday, with Jones, Costello, Byers and Gordon-Ross voting 4-0 to advance the policy draft.
Jones said Carole Caude-Blackwood, Yolanda Franklin and Shannon Kimball were absent due to unforeseen circumstances and that the board is set to take its final vote on Dec. 9.
“Just as a reminder, this is a first read of the policy, and we will be voting on it in December, so please do not take the unexpected absences of my colleagues, which I think are really a reflection of the season, to mean that this is not something that we don’t take seriously,” Jones said at the beginning of Monday’s meeting.
The district could potentially purchase unlocked plastic sleeves with pouches so phones could be hung up in classrooms or consider other options for interested teachers. The sleeves would not be required in all classrooms. Swift said when she recently inquired about them, teachers were overwhelmingly disinterested, but the district found each would cost $12 or $15.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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