At the Aug. 5 special board meeting, LCISD’s didn’t approve revisions to electronic device usage in the Student Code of Conduct for the upcoming 2024-25 school year. Board President Zach Lambert said trustees recognize there are issues with students using cellphones in schools, and the district will take more time to determine how to address it.
“By us not making a motion or passing a motion, we’re not saying ... we’re OK with what’s happening in this nation on cellphones,” he said. “We’re saying that our current policy allows the district to empower the admin on the campus level to enforce their things. So we’re not saying we’re lacking or relaxing any policy. We’re putting the accountability on that campus level.”
The details
The proposed revisions would have tightened policies on students’ use of telecommunication devices during school hours, with the policy varying depending on grade level. Telecommunication devices include cellphones, smartwatches, tablets, portable music devices, wireless headphones and wireless earbuds, Chief Student Services Officer Marlon Waites said.
The revisions would have required all grades to have devices turned off and out of sight in backpacks during the school day while allowing some flexibility for ninth through 12th graders during lunch if principals allowed it. It also would have changed how students are disciplined based on the number of policy violations.
District officials said the proposed policy wasn't too different from the existing policy, as campus administrators at several schools already choose to ban cellphones during the school day. Other school districts, such as Katy ISD, also recently adopted similar policies.
Why it matters
While LCISD educators can choose to restrict device usage and create cellphone-free classrooms or campuses, enforcing policies and having consistent consequences without a districtwide policy can be challenging, Superintendent Roosevelt Nivens said.
"Some campuses do a great job. Some campuses do a poor job, just plain and simple," he said.
Trustee Suzanne Box, who was a vocal proponent of the policy change, said the goals of the proposal were to:
- Create fewer distractions in classrooms
- Reduce negative impacts of cyberbullying and student exposure to harmful material
- Increase face-to-face connection and engagement
- Improve students’ academic performance
Trustees Jacci Hotzel and Jon Welch said they worried about how well these policies will be enforced.
“I think what we’re doing is ... going to be really, really hard to enforce and really cumbersome for administration,” Hotzel said.
However, Box said she believes it's a good policy that would alleviate enforcement concerns.
"I think that limiting cellphones to younger kids, getting rid of the distraction, allowing teachers to teach and not have to worry about it, getting rid of the blurred lines of when it's OK and not OK—that would eliminate some of the enforcement issues and some of the things that they're dealing with," she said.
Outside of enforcement, Lambert said he worried about the technological implication of the proposed policy revisions. LCISD doesn’t provide a laptop for every student, and he said he worried that "could impact the learning environment" and make instruction more challenging for students who use their device to learn.
What else
After much discussion, trustees voted for Nivens and district administration to create a committee comprised of administrators, teachers and students to determine the best way to move forward on electronic device use. They also asked to hear from campus administrators who are already successfully banning cellphones during the school day.
