When Valparaiso students hear the bell ring during the school day, it won’t be their cellphones calling out for attention.
The Valparaiso School Board decided Monday to put a proposed policy on cellphones on hold, wanting to fine-tune the policy. It’s running out of time to do so; the new state law banning cellphone use in schools takes effect July 1.
The law is aimed at reducing distractions so students are more focused on their lessons.
The policy up for second reading on Monday was for wireless devices like cellphones, tablets, laptops, gaming devices, smartwatches and similar items that can connect to the internet to be turned off and inaccessible to students during the school day, from the start of the first class to the end of the last class.
Some exceptions are built in, but they might be too restrictive, Superintendent Jim McCall said. Students who transition between buildings during the day need access to their devices so they can reply to their career center messages, for example. And even though school buses are technically school property, students would be allowed to use their devices on the bus.
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How students would be disciplined for violating the policy would be determined at the building level, leaving it up to the principal to decide how to punish a student who disobeyed.
He brought up the example of a student who has a medical need for a device, such as a smartphone that tracks blood sugar for a diabetic patient, but uses the device for another purpose not in keeping with the law or the policy. The proposed policy would make confiscating the device mandatory, yet it’s medically necessary as part of the student’s IEP, or individualized education program.
Parents Jennifer Hora and Kristiana Roper both called on the board to consider students’ needs before adopting the policy.
Hora expressed concerns about students being able to access their phones in an emergency.
“We live in a society where people expect to get hold of us on a regular basis,” she said. Before the new state law, she was able to regularly text her kids during their lunch period to update them on various things. That won’t work in the upcoming school year.
Where would the kids store their phones, she asked. If it’s in their cars, wouldn’t that be telling people there are hundreds of cellphones in cars in the parking lot, Hora said.
“There’s a lot of work that really needs to be done on this, and parents are really upset,” she said.
“I hope that you will spend more time looking at this policy” and refining it, Hora said.
Roper has two kids in high school.
“My daughter is a runner. She wears a Garmin” on her wrist, Roper said, to track steps and provide other data.
“Kids don’t have a chance to go to their lockers during the day,” she said. “They’ve got their backpack, their front backpack, all the extra gear hanging off them.”
Roper warned of teachers who “relish in the thought of expelling kids.”
“My kids come home, and they’re hysterical, in a panic attack” over a teacher’s attitude, she said.
Roper’s daughter is involved in running sports, works a part-time job, is on civic boards and has a “crazy” schedule. “We use her phone to make sure we know where she is,” to order food for her behind events, Roper said. The daughter doesn’t always have time to go home for dinner before it’s on to the next obligation.
“Cellphones are really critical for our kids,” she said.
“I beg you guys to not take this resource away from our families,” Roper said.
Under the policy, school-issued devices like Chromebooks are still permissible if a teacher instructs students to use them for a specific educational purpose.
Highly scheduled students will be on school-sponsored devices in their spare time, like during lunch, McCall said, for homework or other school-related needs.
Parents could email their children using their school email accounts, board member John Peluso said. A parent responded that they can’t send emails to the school accounts.
“That’s something that could possibly be adjusted if necessary,” Peluso said. Or parents could contact the office in the old-school method used before the proliferation of personal technology.
Parents would also be summoned if a student’s device is confiscated. “It no longer becomes worth it to bring your phones” if a parent has to pick up it, Peluso said.
Across the country, schools are dealing with this issue. Having a state law require the district to adopt the policy should help make it easier to enforce, he said.
“If students know that the teachers don’t have any choice and the administration doesn’t have any choice, then there’s not as much risk of pushback,” Peluso said. “It’s not a discretionary thing.”
Some schools supply magnetic pouches so students can carry devices with them but not have them easily accessible. But there are flaws with that idea.
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“They’re not free, so you’d have to be spending a considerable amount of money throughout the district,” Peluso said, and there are ways to get around them anyway, such as having an old phone in the bag while the current one is in a pocket.
“We’ve really taken this policy seriously. We’ve done some research,” School Board President Erika Watkins said.
If there’s another way to do this, Peluso said, “by all means, keep communicating.”
“No matter what we choose, July 1 is when this has to be in place,” Watkins said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.