June 23rd Special Board meeting - Cell phone policy workshop

001Okay. Um, okay. So, uh, so our work session tonight is on, um, cell phones and cell phone use in the district. So, I did, um, just to get us going. >> Okay, good. Um, let's put together some slides to go through kind of what our policy is, what the big, you know, the big discussions are out there in the world, a little bit of data around how kids are using cell phones in school and out of school. Um, and then we can dive into some of our questions about what what do we do next? Where do we want to head? Um, the questions that I gave you on this list were things that have come up because we've been discussing them and things that we may want to tackle and or you may not want

002to tackle those things. Um, so um I thought we'd just start with a little this quick little background and then we can um get into doing that unless you'd like to do it a different way. Is that all right? Okay. Um, so why do districts have cell phone policies? Um, smartphones give us great information. They're great for communication. They have engaging educational applications and help us with learning, right? So, those are all positives about cell phones. Um, however, they also are really challenging related especially to the distraction that they provide to our students. um issues with academic integrity, cyber bullying, sextortion, isolation um and can lead to um you know there's a lot of evidence now about the impacts of mental and behavioral health on students from you know use various uses of cell phones.

003Um, so districts put together policies to try to balance those two things, which we have done. Well, now we're looking at it again. >> Why are we looking at it again? That's a question. >> Well, you asked me. You're the one who said, "Hey, can we look at cell phones again?" >> No, I didn't. I thought we kind of took them out, but I guess >> Well, we did, but we weren't sure like we didn't want them used, and it was up to the principles to enforce it. But there's always this creep like as soon as the principal stop enforced. >> They enforce it but then once they lay off the gas they creep back in. >> Well, and there are some other challenges with like we said our policy says and I'll show it

004to you in a minute that um students anywhere in the district or across the high school can use um cell they can have cell phones and use them before school, during lunch and after school. So, you know, there's kind of a natural question of what about during passing periods? What about our, you know, our policy doesn't say anything about that? So, we may need to revise the policy to be to provide more specificity to kind of iron out those wrinkles that maybe people have some questions about so that we're clear. >> Okay. >> I think it was comes from my daughter to be honest with you. You could see when Shana was going around and enforcing it because I would get these texts from her like, "Why is why are they not letting us have

005our cell phones? This is so annoying." And then it would drop off. I wouldn't hear anything for a week or so. And then you could see when it would start to creep back in. I would get texts during the day, which makes me wonder if they're interfering with class. >> They do from experience. They do. >> I guess that's what we're here to find out. So >> if something more >> how are we going to investigate? >> Well, I think that's what we're going to do now. >> She's going to give us some data and uh >> and then we'll talk a little bit about >> talk a little bit more about >> reserves data. >> Um well, this this is just kind of general data about smartphone use by teenagers, right? I mean, we're

006not the only school district that's trying to figure this out. Um so this >> national >> correct? Yeah. Um, so this was a study done by Common Sense Media and M Children's Hospital. Um, teens check smartphones a median of 51 times a day and that ranged from 2 to 498 times a day. Top uses of apps during school hours in order. Social media was number one, then YouTube, then gaming, and then streaming videos. On a typical school day, teens receive a median of 60 notifications. The total in their day is 237. So that's the the median amount of um notifications they receive with the most coming from Snapchat and Discord. So those >> are they defining the school day like 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.? >> Yeah, I think it was the the hours that

007they were in school. >> So what? These are 11 to seniors. Yeah. >> High school. >> And younger kids had a lot less use and older kids had more use. Right. Because the 11 to 13 year olds are more regulated by their parents typically don't have as much access to things. But as kids got older, their um use changed. Um Go ahead. >> Sorry. Is this self-reported? like um surveys. >> No, they actually tracked it on their phones. >> Okay. And how many did they track like what was the sample size? >> It was 200 something students. 200 I forget. I can send you the report or you could Google it. >> Uh Tik Tok was used by 50% of participants for a median of almost two hours per day. And >> this was two

008year >> this was in 2023. Yeah. Imagine all those numbers have increased significantly. >> Yeah. And these, you know, I looked at other studies too and they're pretty similar, right? If we just think about the big picture, like these social media apps, these, you know, the um video apps are really, you know, kids are watching them and so are adults. Actually, >> do you want to look at this? This is the activity recorded by my daughter on her phone. So, when they go over 18, you don't have access to to it anymore. But that explains how granular it is. >> Yeah. down to the app. >> As a parent, you can actually control what access to what apps they have and how much time they spend on it. But you can see >> her average

009is six hours a day. >> Oh, yeah. That's She's probably the littlest of the all of my kids. >> Thank you. Sorry. >> Oh, you're fine. >> I started to turn it on then I worried about >> Yeah. Here's like when I'm up there with Snapchat. So, her average is two hours and 46 minutes a day. Is is there an educational benefit to having this phones? I mean, I live by my phone. You know, I you've researched, you know, somebody asked me a question. You know, you got basically my phone is more more important to me than this device. >> Yep. Yeah. We'll talk about that in a minute because there are some reasons that phones, you know, may be something that we, you know, the teachers want to have access to and and there

010are, >> you know, teachers who would advocate strongly for allowing use of phones that is guided by teacher direction in their classrooms. And certainly we have that Shana actually required teachers to email her and say to to get permission if they were going to use cell phones for an academic p purpose. So she got some information about what what they were using it for. >> Um their key findings in that particular um study uh smartphones provide background buzz. So what they mean by that is you know how when you're home alone and the house is too quiet so you just turn the TV on so there's some noise. So that background buzz or you have music playing while you're doing your work or something like that. So, a lot of what the students were reporting

011was having their phones on to have background buzz. They might have earbuds in, they're listening to music while they're doing their independent work, things like that. Um, so smartphones provide background buzz and they encourage regular pickups over the more than four hours of teenage smartphone use on an average day. So, picking up and looking at the notifications. Uh phone use during school hours is nearly universal but varies widely based on school policies. So school policies do impact phone use. >> There is a purpose to them. >> Uh half of the participants receive 237 or more notifications per day. Uh and students reported that those interruptions are both delightful and distracting. So, there's something that you know you can get happy about when you get a ding because maybe your friend is texting you about something

012fun. >> Lunch. >> Um and they're distracting. Uh they this was the the um reports words, Tik Tok is irresistible, offering bite-size pleasure and low friction interaction that quickly adapts to the user's interests or mood. So they talked about Tik Tok and they had they have examples of students talking about Tik Tok. Um Tik Tok. So if you've ever used it, you open it up and it just plays a cute short little video and then you it just keeps playing new videos, right? So that's what they mean by low friction. You don't have to do anything. So students talked about how Tik Tok if they only had 10 minutes to play on their phone, they were going to look at Tik Tok, not YouTube. Because in YouTube, you have to open it up, you have

013to go to search, you have to find what you want to watch. That's friction that keeps you from, you know, using it for longer periods of time. And Tik Tok doesn't have that. They just And Tik Tok has really good algorithms, so they can tell, oh yeah, you know, they want to keep watching movies on or videos on this, so I'm going to keep showing this. and they, you know, swipe something away and all of a sudden now it conforms to whatever mood the student is in. So this is this was words from students >> mood >> or right there. >> Um over half of teens use their phones overnight on school nights primarily for social media, gaming or YouTube. Some of them talked about using them like having music or something on to fall

014asleep to, you know, so not necessarily nefarious reasons or staying up all night gaming, but you know, there were uses like that. Uh, smartphones can allow access to age inappropriate experiences. We know that, but that's a downside. Um, all the social media apps, I think, are supposed to be 13 and above, but we know younger kids are getting on them. Um, and then young users admit they have challenges managing their technology use, but through steps like curation and adding friction, they're working on it. So, kids talked about how they manage themselves. So, they may set timers on their own apps or they may, you know, put it down and turn it over, put it away while they're trying to focus. So, you know, kids are developing their own strategies to to help themselves with that.

015Um, why would we reduce cell phone use in schools? Some reasons are to improve student focus. We know that constantly getting notifications breaks your focus. Increasing student achievement. We know that increased focus um and there's research out there that talks about increased student achievement that comes with um more stringent um requirements. uh reduce discipline issues especially related to cyber bullying, sex tortion and academic integrity and reducing issues of isolation and other mental health issues. So kids kind of isolating themselves um or turning to phones because that's what makes them happy and they don't have other ways of coping with things that are stressful. Um reasons for allowing cell phones in schools. Um we've heard so um Steve we put a a social media blast out um encouraging people to come tonight or to send information

016their thoughts to Steve and he got a number of them um emails and um some of the I think some of the things in the emails talked about students being able to contact their parents in case of an emergency that that was important to a parent or parents. I've heard that before, too. Um, students being able to communicate with parents about their needs or after school plans or things that are happening or whatever. So, we've heard that comment. Um, effective use of cell phones as an instructional tool. We've certainly heard that from some of our staff members, our teachers who are, you know, using cell phones for instructional purposes. Um, and it, you know, would give us the opportunity to teach students how to manage their cell phone use in a positive way potentially. So,

017our current policy 3630 says students may use cellular phones, pagers, and others electronic signaling devices on campus before school begins and after school ends. Students in grades 9 through 12 may also use these devices during the lunch period. These devices must be kept out of sight and turned off during the instructional day. So that's what your current policy says. >> Good. >> And there's right and there's there's some other language in there, but it's that's the key right there. I know I was like pagers that's retro. Um that slide is just what you have on your sheet. So we'll tackle that in a minute. Um, Montana Boseman High phones are prohibited during classes, but I don't think during passing periods. Billing uses lockable pouches for phones. Um, Florida phones were banned statewide in classrooms. California

018phone lockers. New York City lifted the ban but still enforces strict in-class policy. So, you know, it's kind of all over the place. Well, LA put last year. I mean, that's kind of what started us off. >> It did. >> Uhuh. >> Just curious on LA, where how did that go? >> I can research that. >> Yeah, I didn't look at it, but it seemed strange that Los Angeles, California was banning cell phones, and we weren't really thinking about doing it at the time. Or we were thinking, >> was it really LA? >> Yeah. >> Yes, it was LA. >> LA. And everybody was like, "Well, if that big a district could do it, then why couldn't we?" Yeah. >> You know, it's funny. I just Googled it. LA USD to lift cell phone ban

019>> day ago. >> A day ago. >> NBC Palm Springs. Yep. >> Say what? >> I can go in there and read it. ended. >> It's the Rogan report. Thought I was going to Joe Rogan for a second here. >> Um, it doesn't have a It's a video, not an article, unfortunately. But >> but you know, the headline is is that they're backing off of it. So >> interesting. Meanwhile, two hours ago, text and student cell phone banned from schools under new law. So, it's going both directions. >> Um, so, so that was just that was just a little kind of review. Um, I think you know we can take a look at does our policy say what we want it to say. I think there's some questions that our staff are looking for answers

020for. So like what about during passing periods at the high school? So elementary school really there's no issue, right? The most we have at the elementary school is kids having um the like the video watches or something that parents would be buying. and your policy says they can't record during the day. You would have to have special permission like that. Pretty much the elementary we haven't seen an issue with it. Um the high the middle school started this eight, seven years ago, maybe more. Um, so it's been in place for a long time and you know the the understanding is that students leave their cell phones often in their lockers during the day. Do are they allowed to access them at lunch? No. Okay. Um, and you know there are kids who when I pulled

021the reports from IC, I think there were 26 reports or 28 reports from 26 kids um for cell phone violations. Most of them said, you know, the kid had already been given the warning and the the other warning. And so looking at that data, it looks like, and from talking with Julie, I think most of the times kids will try to, you know, pull it out and keep it out with them and the teacher will say, "You need to go put that away." And then they do it and then it's not a repeat. Does that sound >> It does. >> You can you can come up. You want to talk just talk a little bit about what you're seeing? >> Yeah. So then the other thing is um what what is new with the kids,

022they use the earbuds and so they hide those. They hide them and so they hide the phone and so that they're connected all the time and those connect to their Chromebook too and so that's a little bit of an issue. So they they get creative and they try to sneak when they can. Kids are kids and that's what they do and we try to you know catch whenever we can catch you know and is are all the teachers all consistent all the time? I would say no. And that's sometimes part of the issue um of certain people allowing kids to use those. But then some teachers do let the kids use them for educational purposes such as um surveys um quizzes, brain pop kinds of things, curriculum kinds of things that the kids are that

023they do use their phones for. But if that is the case, um that particular teacher sends out an email to the whole staff and they can only have it for that one particular period and then it goes back then it's supposed to supposed to go back into the locker. So that's that's what we've Is there anything more to add, Dave? >> I would just say at the middle school level, uh we really are on board with keeping the policy in place as far as having the phones locked in their lockers during the school day. At again, at the middle school level, it cuts down. The kids aren't as well regulated as the high school. And I don't want to speak for the high school at all, but at the middle school level, we found that

024it really reduced studentto student contact during the day, cyber bullying, pictures, just distractions. And if we open up the door a little bit to like a classroom using the cell phone, then it sort of causes that ripple effect and we have to rein that back in. And we're fortunate enough too at the middle school where we have Chromebooks in all the classrooms. So educationally there's really not a reason for them to have a cell phone. >> Yeah. >> So they can do you were talking about the different apps that they use on the cell phones. They can get all that on their Chromebooks. >> They didn't Okay. >> Um No, they're blocked. Some of Some of them are blocked, you know. They're blocked and that's a good thing, you know. So certain ones they can

025>> Can you explain more about what you were talking about with the earbuds? >> Yeah, that's >> Yeah, they just they those connect they just connect to their phone and they have a way of connecting them. And maybe you can explain how that happens, Greg. I don't know. But >> Bluetooth through their through their Chromebook. >> You turn off Bluetooth on the Chromebooks. >> We can, but then sometimes they'll need it to like the robot. >> Oh, >> it's very limited though. We could definitely turn it off. And my understanding is it's it's it's one way or the other. You can't just turn off certain ones. It's either all or none. >> I can do it by you. So if we have Chromebooks that created five, I could turn >> just take that microphone over

026and sit down by >> So basically you can turn off that per group. So we have organizational units we can turn off for this group and not this other group. But once it's turned off, it's off. So it can't >> can't give like an admin like exception if somebody you know like >> I mean if Billy sends me an email or help desk ticket then I can enable it for but that would be kind of >> is is there a way that you could well if they're doing something with like you said robotics or something >> most of the time could they could they send it through to the teachers laptop and then have the teacher laptop actually do the Bluetooth connection? Well, to be honest with you, in my opinion, they don't really need

027Bluetooth on the Chromebooks because Okay. They they have robotics labs and so those devices already have that capability to connect. >> Yeah, that basically answers I guess what I was trying to figure out is if they're using their earbuds and the Bluetooth to their cell phone that's in their pocket. >> Yeah. >> They're not really looking at the Chromebook. >> Well, it it'll even go out probably through the locker. >> Yeah, they they've accessed their phone. It's amazing the the range on those things. >> Kids are smart >> and their watches. >> So, we all of those electronic devices um we we don't want them to have Yeah. >> I just have a question regarding that. How how big is that problem? How big is that problem in the blow? >> Well, let me catch

028them. D mentioned we've got 26. I think we had 26 23 incidents and 26 kids of, you know, were the ones that were caught with, you know, >> so really it's doesn't sound like it's huge. >> And most kids do what they are asked to do. You know, they they do the right thing. >> Kids are want to do the right thing. >> Yep. >> So, when we're wearing earbuds, are they listening to music? Are they or they share with their buddy. Yeah. You don't know what they're listening to and then they share them with their friends. And so >> my daughter was using them for noise cancelling. >> Oh yes. >> So when they were taking tests, she borrowed mine for noise cancelling, which would kind of make sense. But if you like next

029time you go into a restaurant or something like that and you see a young kid, they're always going to have one earbud in all the time. >> So that's something you have to think about now and how you would enforce it. It's, you know, it's as the at the behavior committee, I gave kind of a bigger history of the cell phone use in the middle school. Thank you. Um, okay, good. Thank you. So, this is Dave. Um, when we first started the cell phone policy, it was strictly enforced and really few problems. CO did kind of lighten that up and we've been reigning that back in and we're getting back to precoid um management of the cell phones and even though we have a few cell phone issues, we would have more discipline issues, more

030behavior issues, more social issues, more cyber issues if we allowed the cell phones. >> Yes. And one cautionary note, I was up at MSU uh largely last week taking workshops and you know how vapes can look like a bunch of different devices, USB, things like that. They're making smartphones or smartwatches um that can vape. >> Wow. Whoa. >> Wow. >> So, I'm sorry. >> If you could run the world, what would you have the board consider? What's your recommendation based off your experience? >> Well, for middle schoolers, like Dave mentioned, I can't speak to the high school because they're older and I know they're all developmentally different at different ages and middle schoolers are way more more mature, some are than some high schoolers and they're all over the place. And so, they really don't

031need them. They they they don't need to have them at school. You know, they can for partic for particular purposes, but it's so insightful and we get enough of it on the weekends and after school hours that comes back into the school that we have to deal with. So much of it that takes just hours to work through sometimes when they're when that happens on a weekend or a week night or whatever it might be. In our world, we we prefer not. And I think all the teachers, the majority of the middle school teachers would be on board with that as well after going through high school might be a little bit different cuz they they may um they may use those cell phones for other things. I I don't know. I can't speak to

032the high school. I don't know. But >> I think the big picture is we feel like, you know, what we're doing at the elementary school and what we're doing at the middle school has been >> effective. we can always make things better, but um that you know you'd like to continue with the you know cell phones stay in your locker and we'll have to try to figure out how we tackle the earbud issue. One thing that we've wrestled with back and forth and we keep changing it is and we changed it. It's you know with some of the consequences. So typically the kids get a warning if they get caught with the phone the teacher will take the phone and get it back to them at the end of the day or else send it

033to the office. So we've we've wrestled with some of those, you know, exactly how to how to handle all the consequences because that's not always easy either when different people are catching kids with the cell phone. But typically then we were communicating out. So um with a a particular Google form so that other staff would know if the student had already gotten caught once with the phone. Then we would take the phone and have parents come back in and pick it up. And if it became a huge issue, we just ask for it to stay at home. And often times, we haven't had issues with um parents. Typically, it's the incoming fifth graders just because it's a little nerve-wracking for them to come into the middle school. And oftent times, uh we get requests obviously,

034which we would always allow is for our medically our medical students in need. Um for example, some of our d diabetic students. >> Yes. >> Have access to folds. Mhm. Yeah. We have phones everywhere in the building and you know so kids have access to a a staff phone in any classroom that they need to or staff can get a hold of the office and we always allow you know if they need to get a hold of somebody they they're they're welcome to. So you're asking basically it sounds like that we just put a little bit more teeth into this policy that we put maybe put some language in that overtly says earbuds. Uh is there anything else I guess I guess I'm trying to boil down what you're saying. >> Our handbook does you

035you talk to that. >> Excuse me. Our handbook does have electronic devices in it. So we do cover smartwatches and earbuds. Uh I guess what we would request is maybe just to continue what we're doing but clarify the sequence of consequences. >> Okay. >> We we yeah within general you know you could talk about any behavior issue that arises. Typically you're going to give a warning with some corrective teaching. Give the kid a chance to correct that behavior. Then if you see that again then that the real first consequence would be taking place at that point. And so we would follow something like that with the cell phone. If you have your cell phone on you, I see uh it's early in the day, remind you, go put that in your locker, make sure you

036turn it off, kind of watch you go. If I catch you with that again on that day or a different day, then I take the phone. >> Do we have a a thing in infinite campus to track that >> for cell phones? >> Yeah. Okay. >> Yeah, that's the report that I ran that had 26 students with 28 incidents. What's the Google form then? >> We would use that internally. We've we've tried that internally. So that that's an internal form that we use. >> So the challenge is you got a warning in Miss Smith's class and then you go do the same thing in Mr. Jones's class, but Mr. Jones doesn't know you already got your first warning, so they don't know to issue the second warning. So, we're trying to make sure that the

037communication is there um and either ironing it out in Infinite Campus or using a separate >> Seems like Mr. Jones would want to record it in Infinite Campus. Then he >> The other person doesn't necessarily look it up, do they? >> That's what the Google form is about. Correct. You're sending that out to the staff. Like in the high school, we used to have dress code violations and if you reprimanded somebody or said, "Go put your sweater on." We emailed the rest of the staff and the principles and said, "I just told Susie to go put a coat on because she leaves nothing to the imagination." And that went out to everybody. And so when the principal knew that, another teacher contacts and says, "Hey, we still have an issue." principal goes and says, "Here's

038the deal. Here's a t-shirt." >> What? Uh, so is an infant campus is just like a tick mark or something like that like just there's nothing >> specific to it like >> it's a separate >> like what is saying >> it? It's a separate field. You want >> Yeah, easily. It's not like super easy. >> It's not super easy to pull up, Steve. So, >> okay. >> I would think Google form where it just have like a web page, right, where you can see easily. I'm going to say it sounds like it's, you know, for something so so small, you know, if it takes, you know, if it takes a couple of minutes to actually, you know, document it, teacher just gets the phone, takes care of it right there, doesn't document it, and then

039of course, you know, like you say, couple hours, couple days later, another teacher has the same issue. Well, I don't say as I fault the first teacher for the same reason, you know, in my world, you know, driving the trash truck. I don't burn everybody for extra trash cuz quite honestly, it's bigger pain in the butt than it's worth um for the but then it's not being documented. Um, so I guess I'm wondering is, you know, if it if the infinite campus, like I said, I mean it's, you know, you tell the student, hey, put your phone away. It, you know, the problem goes away, you know, how much documenting it does it I guess I've never played with infinite campus. You have, you know, is it take a minute or two of the teacher's

040day to do it? Because I I don't say as I blame the teacher. They're busy enough. >> I think you have a good point. Mhm. >> And >> I would say maybe one example would be like the kid that doesn't bring his supplies or uh pencil to class. Uh you may not report that to his next teacher, but pretty soon teachers get an idea who's doing that. >> So we pick up on it that way, too. Like, oh, Johnny, he's got his phone. He's got it again. So, >> and then that's all addressed in our grade level meetings that we have every week. Nice. >> Okay. any more um middle school questions or >> do we I guess when I look at this um from what they're telling me is middle school I wished I

041had high school input because I'm almost wondering you know I I hate one-sizefits-all policies because you know elementary school there no reason middle school I would be willing to listen to arguments but then once you get into high school you know you start allowing a little bit more freedom I don't know if there's you know any educational adv advantage or that's coming. >> They're going to talk about this. And Shana had a family emergency, so she couldn't be here. We should have enough data to help us make a decision here. >> So yeah, so we can get started on the conversation, but like Steve said, Shana hadn't a family emergency, so she couldn't be here tonight. So we probably can't get as deep into it as we wanted to because high school's high school is

042the big challenge, right? I mean, we just heard like middle school is working under the current. So, so essentially we want to just keep things pretty tight. K8 the conversation is about 912 >> and you know we we need to write the policy so it works across the board. It doesn't mean that the policy won't work for for high school but you know there's some specific things that we can talk about because there are specific challenges at the high school that the other levels don't have. So I hope that those are the conversations we can have right now and then we'll just have to continue the conversation. Um, so I think one of the things that we've heard and you got an at least one of your email the emails you got was about you

043know teachers advocating for being able to use cell phones in class when it was appropriate for an instructional component. Um, and you know, when we if we want to make changes to the policy and we invite teachers here to speak on that, that's probably something you're going to hear and you're going to hear from other teachers. I don't want to ever see a cell phone again, right? I mean, we're going to have a mixed bag there of people who who believe different things and that's okay. If I let if I come from a you know if students are expect you know have a cell phone and you got 98 kids have 90% or I don't know what the number is but probably high 90s have one. I worry about the the few that for some

044reason financially or you know parents don't want them to have it or whatever the reason. Is there an equality equal access question there? >> Right. >> Yeah. Do you want to proceed with the high school stuff? I was thinking maybe um if we have time I should just summarize like I think I probably received 10 or 12 emails. >> I can just give you the gist of each one of them. >> Yeah. >> It'd be interesting to see what these go ahead and do that >> now. Why don't you go first? I think these were mostly geared towards the high school. >> Okay. So, I'll go through these and then we'll listen to the feedback that Steve received. Um >> some of it may be included, but >> there's tone within the parents emails that

045is interesting. Um, >> Julie has a question. >> Huh? Am I done with you? >> Um, could you stay for a little bit? >> We love having you here. >> You may be able to help us as we wrestle with some of these things. Um, should cell phone use at the high school high school be permitted during passing periods or breaks? So, um, and that goes with the next one. Students at the middle school use lockers and keep their phones there. Very few students at the high school use lockers. It kind of went out of fashion and it hasn't come back in fashion, >> but they still should adhere to the policy 3639 or whatever it is. >> They have backpacks though. Most of them have >> they have backpacks. So, but it feels I'm

046just saying when you're in the building it feels different. It feels different to have and I think Julie is Julie and I have had conversations and Dave and I when their phone is in their locker it feels different than when their phone is in their backpack, right? It just feels different because their phone is right near them when it's in their backpack versus in their locker. So, not saying that we can't meet the requirements of the policy, right? We have the cell phone hotels. They can walk into class, drop their cell phone in there. It's there some >> Yeah, do kids. >> It depends on the class, but it by the end of the year, I saw very few kids using the cell phone hotels, so they were mostly in their backpacks or sometimes on

047their desks. >> Um, >> we could discuss the reasons that I heard for that later, too. >> Okay, >> I don't want to interrupt you now. >> Um, we have had the question, um, and I think it came up in some of the emails that Steve got. How will parents and students connect during the day if they need to? So, there's two pieces to that. One is parents who are concerned that if there's an emergency, they want to be able to reach their kid, right? If there's a lockdown, if there's a Now, our safety procedure says kids can't have their phones and be texting during an emergency. However, >> here in the real world, >> we we also know that that, you know, just listening to media about events that have happened that that kids

048or young adults or college kids text somebody during an event. >> Um, and so I think that's a very real fear for some families. Um, and then just the regular connecting. We've gotten so used to being able to instantly text somebody and get an answer that, you know, we'd go back to the old days where you went and made a phone call during, you know, in between classes and then somebody had to call you back and the secretary got a message to you in class and, you know, kind of the oldfashioned way that we communicated. And you're still doing that at the middle school level. >> Well, and you have access to teachers phones still in the classrooms in high school as well. >> Correct. So, none of this says that we can't do our

049policy, right? It's just things that are that are um habits of practice at our high school that make it harder to follow the policy. Um what about students who want to listen to music or have a video on while they do their independent work? So, you know, sometimes the teachers play music in the background. Um, and I think you know the earbud thing is probably some instances of more and more kids seem to like to listen to music while they do their work. Um, and there are a lot of opinions about that whether that's right or wrong. Good or bad or um and then we talked a little bit about students who use phones to manage physical or mental health issues. So physical obviously our students with diabetes who were tracking their levels they will

050have to have a phone. >> Um and then we also have a small handful of students with um anxiety issues who also um we've you know worked with their families to create a plan for helping to manage some of their anxiety um by being able to make a phone call or being able to take a break. the percentage of kids that are involved that would be involved with those two issues. >> Tiny tiny small handful. >> Half a percent. >> Huh? >> Half person. >> Oh yeah. >> I mean it's typically we would in order to break the schoolboard policy we would have them on a specific plan and the plan would be agreed to. So >> I think it's tiny. Yeah. Um if we if we said anybody who wants to do it then

051we would probably have hundreds but we limit it to really you know specifically based on identified need. Um, and then the last one is, um, you know, we're we're all about teaching and so I do have some resources that we can talk about that we're looking at and and to help teach our staff and our kids about cell phone addiction. Um and you know uh we are working with Inner Mountain to schedule a community event to show the movie Screen Aers which is about how cell phones are you know impacting kids' lives and things like that. So some community events >> um and you know we're hiring teachers who are also part of this generation and who also are used to having cell phones all the time and and have just as many you notifications

052going off and and things like that. And so you know that as we move forward we have to keep that in mind too. So, whatever instruction we're giving our students about the impacts of cell phones and how you use them, it's, you know, having our staff see the same presentations is going to be really important so that we're all on the same page. Um, Livingston uh is hiring a person. I can show you the video. um is hiring somebody to come speak with their students, staff, and parents. And uh Melissa Manancy, who's coming back to us from Livingston, was an administrator there for a year, said, "Hey, we're doing this. We get a deal if you know multiple districts nearby can do it." Um so I'll just show you that really quick. as an example

053of Oh, come on. of something that we could do. [Music] >> Would this be during school or was it Yeah, like after school? >> Um, no. similar to this. >> We would have them come and present >> during school. Do you want me to read these comments while you find it? >> I got it. >> Okay. >> Screen. >> Oh, it's not. These are comments that were sent to you by >> Yeah, these are just the emails that were sent. So, they put out a fa Facebook post that said we were having this meeting and inviting public How do I get this on the screen? >> And if they couldn't make it, they could email. >> And you got How many did you get? >> There's probably 10 or >> So, not a huge response.

054>> No. And you know, there was more support. >> Yeah. >> For uh letting the kids have phones out there, be honest with you. >> Is there a way we could get to go into like a a central email that actually blasts to all of us so we could all read? >> We're working on that. Like this one was kind of restricted because we needed it for DD. They could only do it to one of us at the time for some reason. So what we had do is send them to me just because I'm the board and then I I replied to everyone and CC and then she took that data >> and then came up with this. But we've tried to figure that out in the past like for general questions like how would

055we know somebody didn't email us each the same questions but not tell us so that they would elicit different responses from everybody. That's we've kind of like found pros and cons for having an email distribution list for the board versus individual email addresses. >> I don't know. It's just, you know, seems like it works well for some ways and doesn't either, you know, like >> Yeah, it's not a big deal. >> How do I make the sound work? >> What's that? Maybe we can talk a little bit after about it after this meeting and see what you guys think would be useful >> building healthy relationship with their today. United States the average 13 to 18y old is currently on pace to spend 93% of their remaining time getting to the age of 90 and

056thinking about all the things you could have done with that time that you didn't have >> I really appreciated the perspective of the hours that you have left that's shocking every time I see it and it's it's pretty scary I like how Dino is speaking from a place of experience >> hearing from someone that's uh not so much older than most I think has a lot of impact. >> Does it feel like an older person's teaching us a lecture? >> The transition into college was a lot more difficult than I anticipated. My first midterm rolled around and I got a 20%. In hindsight, that was a really good opportunity for me to grow as a student and a person. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to overcome those feelings of stress and anxiety because I developed the

057habit of running away from them by turning to the phone in my pocket. I developed an addiction to my phone and to social media. Your actions are the evidence upon which your identity is built. And after a few months of college, I was just objectively none of the things that I was proud to be in high school anymore. And I didn't like the version of myself that I was becoming. And that put me in a state of really poor mental health that made those first couple years of college probably the most difficult of my whole life. And it really all stemmed from the relationship that I've built up with my thumb. >> We have a hard time uh talking with the kids in uh ways that speak with them and without like uh being judgmental

058about it. And Dino can do that in an engaging way. >> He's engaging uh thoughtful. the presentation I thought was um something that students could relate to. >> So when I got back to Berkeley, I created a semester length course called becoming tech intentional. And one of the questions on the application was describe your current relationship with your phone. I had one student say, "I'm stuck in this negative feedback loop. I hate it so much, but sometimes it feels like I'm in too deep to break it. I'm currently losing the war for control over my life." Okay, guys. Those are real UC Berkeley students that are saying that. I certainly did not expect to see responses like that on the application. Because when I was struggling with this, I genuinely thought I was the only

059one that had this problem. And I totally blamed myself. I thought that my inability to maintain a healthy level of screen time was a result of my personal shortcomings. And all of my students felt the same exact way. So, if you're struggling with this right now, please understand it is not your fault. Behind that screen is a supercomput and thousands of engineers that are all working to figure out what piece of content is going to keep you on the app for the longest amount of time. These services are free because they're monetizing you. And it's not that you shouldn't use them. You just need to figure out what it means for you to get a good deal out of them. You are not resigned to this outcome. My average student in that course at Berkeley

060reduced their screen time by over 50%. I had a number of students get 4.0's for the first time while they took the class at Berkeley. So it really is possible to build and maintain a healthy relationship with your phone. And the benefits of doing so are truly truly enormous especially post high school. This is a great project for keeping that in mind and also creating balance in their lives. There's a lot that you can do to set yourself up for success so that your phone is not infringing upon your life. Go into your settings and come up with time limits for each of the main social media apps. You can have a friend set a screen time passcode that will not let you bypass that amount of time. I think every high school student needs

061to hear this. >> The reaction it brings out of me is so deeply emotional. Sounds like wake up. >> You want me to read some stuff? >> Yes. >> Some of these are longer than others, but I'll just read the short ones straight up. My two high school girls are in school to learn not to look at their phones. I'm a proponent of laptops in the high school. There you have it. Thanks for your work on the board. While they're a convenient tool when trying to get an occasional message to my kids during the school day, I feel like they're probably an enormous distraction most of the time. I would be for keeping phones in their cars or lockers during class times. See, give me one. I'm a parent of a sixth and tth grader

062in Belgrade public schools. I do not think cell phones should be allowed in schools because they are too distracting and the policies vary greatly by teacher. I would vote to disallow cell phone use by students. I'm writing in full support of banning cell phones from classrooms and would love to see it carry through to the high school as well. We have personally experienced the negative effects of having phones in terms of social media bullying, reduced focus, and increased mental health struggles. See, this one's a little bit rambling, but let me try and get the gist of it. Scares me that they do not have cell phones if there is a reason for them to get a hold of me, especially when we have shelter in places last fall. It was convenient just the way they

063could express how they were feeling at the moment so they could get through it. His daughter had anxiety and if she could text me, I was able to help her think through what was going on. Sometimes there are stuff that goes on where my children just like to check in with my husband or I if they're hand have handling a hard day. Having I think she means having it says handling if they're having a hard day. If the teacher says no phone and was consistent with it, it would be okay. But the other classes they use it for research. Some students use it to keep track of assignments and tasks. I think it should be teachers choice on cell phones. This is one about earbuds. It would be good to know if not not allowing

064cell phones would extend to earbuds as well. And this is true. I agree with this. This is something I didn't think of. While they may not technically have their phones on their person, they could still be listening to music is not only discretion, but is also incredibly rude to teachers. Give me one second. This one's a long one. Well, this this is the first paragraph. Keep in mind the board and the administration do not live the life of high schoolers and teachers in the classrooms and have little right controlling actions and situations they never see themselves in. Phone should be allowed in school and classrooms that have many reasons to support my option. No phones created enforcement options which no student or teacher listened to. created problems with the administration had to deal with. No

065phones also killed the respect for students who are on their way to adulthood and not being trusted around their own tools. Phones are a symbol of freedom and they shouldn't be stripped away. Phones are a tool for generations to come and will have to learn to use in a professional manner which will be critical to students. Allowing phones allows a teacher student connection as a respect goes both ways when phones are present. Problems occur when phones are not permitted and students sneak their phones under a desk. Teachers aren't oblivious and do notice as that creates an trustworthy environment between the class and the teacher. The benefits of allowing phones are much greater than the pros of not. That one was That last one was directed at high school kids. >> Can't really I think so.

066Okay. So, like >> It was by a high school student. >> Was it? >> Yeah. >> Oh, >> those last two were high school kids. >> Oh, really? >> Interesting. They have numbers. Oh, they were Gmail accounts, weren't they? Not like or you know that by name. >> Oh, students. >> Really? >> No. Oh, we'll talk about it later. Um, >> we did have some from high school students, some from parents, teacher, and mostly from parents. >> Okay, this one was interesting. Not sure why I'm taking the time to write this emails. I know that my words and opinions do not matter because I don't give enough money to the school and all decisions are made for what you personally want for your own kids and your friends kids. But I believe that cell phones

067should be allowed in the high school. Thanks. >> Thank you for that positive mental attitude. I couldn't help but writing back on that one. >> Be scared to ask. Maybe better you don't receive all these responses. >> I think that's pretty much it. >> Okay. >> Do we have I guess at the high school I mean I hear you guys Julie and Dave saying that in the middle school they have this exception for the kids that have the the anxiety the diabetes. I'm a I believe that is also in the high school as I recall. >> Yes, it is. >> That would be anywhere. >> Yeah, that's what I as I last time I was there was 2023, but as I recall, >> we kind of talked about that too with the the network stuff.

068I remember if you guys were here for that or not. Maybe that was before you two. It was before >> it was approval to improve the wireless network and it was kind of annoying to me because you know like if you're going to have the kids using their phones for their assignments then we don't need to make our wireless network more robust for school devices >> right >> there could be situations where they would like you know if they go through our network we could control what they can use like mainly AI is what comes to mind but if they use their cell phone they can go on that network based off their cell network. So >> did you >> we got rid of that when you guys two years ago? >> Yeah. >> So

069we got rid of the guest network. >> Yeah. >> Basically disor used to be able to get on the network. Same sort of thing. >> Sorry. And we got rid of that. So I do I hear what you're saying, Steve. If they're on a network, we can use our filtering software. >> So you know, all the sites you definitely don't want them. But kids are smart, too. All I have to do is turn it off and then just on their cell. >> Yeah. Or sometimes they'll come up and they'll install a VPN. >> Can they do that on the >> kids are smart, man. It's wicked smart. >> I mean, I guess the what Greg's talking about was a long time before you guys. It was basically with the diabetic devices where they would let

070the kids access the network so it would feed back their stuff and then these guys got smarter and I was like, "Well, if there somebody really needs to use the network, we'll give them the password." You know, like nobody's going to tell a diabetic kid they can't use the network, >> right? You know, >> we have a separate Wi-Fi for it's called BSD Medical for all the students that have diabetic monitors and actually for the nurses to be able to monitor the phones, too. You know, I know that cell phones were used in classrooms somewhat when I was there, but I don't remember that being a huge want. And I don't know that that's I don't I don't know if that's changed or not, but I I know that we had access to laptops that

071we could bring into the classroom and that sort of thing or you could go to the labs or whatever for what if you needed access. [Music] I'm not sure moving this next year more to Chromebooks for the high school. Um, >> but devices. >> Oh, devices in general, not just Chromebooks. >> Yeah. I'm just I mean, >> what a kind. there there's if there's Chromebooks in these classrooms that require use of the of the internet uh they should be able to do all of their work on a Chromebook versus having >> and they can or at the time you've got some control over what they access off the internet. you have a lot of control over what you have access. >> To me, that seems like a reasonable alternative to having a cell phone or

072uh education uh applications that you have within the school. >> So, in the middle school, they have right now they're one to one, but they're talk I I'm not privy to all the talks, but they're talking about going to carts, which it kind of I agree with because of repair issues, but but there is enough devices for every student. It's not like, oh, we only have enough devices for 10 students. There's 20. Like, every student has access to either a Chromebook or a laptop in the middle school and high school. And you're right, we do have filtering software. We have logging. We have We used to have Bark, but now we have Delo. So, we can actually have it set up alerts where there's bullying or or inappropriate content student to student as well. We

073don't have that if they're on their device, their personal device. So, I don't know. I would think that would help. I don't know. And I think that's something that the board could consider adding to their policy. >> Yeah. >> That, you know, cell phones won't be used for instructional purposes. I mean, I guess you could have some kind of caveat where you'd have to get special permission for something if you know, or you just say, "No, we're not using cell phones for instructional purposes, and we have we are required to have the devices that we need to function without them." >> And I and I like that going back to that equality thing again. Um, The one question I do have, you know, like I said, K8 I don't have I'm pretty set on uh

074912 as we're in the high school would be as the kids are starting to transition into uh adulthood, they're taking on jobs and you know, do we, you know, they might need a little bit more allowance, you know, a little more access to be able, you know, definitely not during active instruction time, but you know, if they've got some downtime like you say independent learning or whatever and uh you know they want to text their boss and say hey I'm going to be a little bit later the boss says hey can you come in a little bit early I don't mind that um as you know like I said that's moving a little bit more towards adulthood and >> soability right and so that goes to that question of um you know we said high

075school students who remember have them in their backpack >> yes they um and are using them during passing periods, I would guess. >> Oh, yes. Um, >> because they have them and they, you know, so our policy right now says no, you can't use them during passing periods. You can just use them during lunch. >> So, is that reasonable and rational or is that something that, you know, needs to be addressed or that's just I'm just putting that out there. I don't know. >> I almost I almost am not against them. You know, like I said, burning a quick text off during a passing period before the bell rings, >> but that's just me. I disagree. As you know, I think doing it at lunch is fine. >> Texts will last. >> They're not going

076anywhere. Um, you do, you know, I see uh at times that there's uh kids that have problems with phones that actually bring them in and they park them >> all day long. >> Mhm. >> And you see a significant improvement in their >> behavior, >> their performance. Mhm. >> They know they have a problem and it's related to this interaction with uh you know it's if if they do if all they did was a text to their boss that'd be wonderful. But that if you think that's what they're doing in passing then you know I've got some land for you in the Florida. I believe what I would say is you give them an inch and they're going to take a while. >> Right. >> And I think the middle school recognized that and said

077no to it. Yeah. Right. You can do a lot of damage in four minutes in a four-minute passing period. >> I mean, kids are taking videos of each other, in inappropriate videos of each other and posting them on >> you know Instagram or other things like that. Once this stuff's on the internet, it's gone. >> You can't get it back. Somebody say, "Well, I want that back." >> Sorry, it's not coming back. >> I don't know how many of you are aware of it or not, but they are now offering college classes to teach kids how to talk on the phone and how to interact >> that is now a new college course because of cell phones. >> And I can tell you the last time I subbed, you know, because it's 90 minute periods

078now, um the kids have been working really, really hard. And this was not uncommon. And I would say, "Okay, here you can have five minutes and talk amongst yourselves." And their hands would immediately go for cell phones. So I made I would take them away from them and make them play Heads Up Seven Up. And they were like second graders. They were so excited to play Heads Up Seven Up because it was an interaction and they but they are glued to their cell phones. Think about how many of us go out in public, you walk into a restaurant, there's a family at a table, and every one of them's got a cell phone here. They don't even talk to each other. I I I think cell phones I think have a wonderful benefit on so

079many levels, but I also think that they um we have babies out there that their frontal loes aren't developed and I think that we should guide them to the best of our ability. >> You do a great job through the eighth grade, >> so why screw it up? >> They already have they're already trained by the time they're freshman. Yeah, I think well that's the problem I think is really the enforcement piece. >> Yeah. No, >> you know, like I think the teachers are doing a good job, but then you know, as soon as you let off the the gas, the phone start creeping out again. >> Yeah. But I also think that the different circumstances. I mean, I can't downplay the difference between kids having all their stuff in a locker and kids having

080their stuff in a backpack. like there's just a reality of we can maybe we can transition kids back to a locker. I don't know. But it it it's just a physical reality that's impacting that has impacted how it's been rolled out at the high school. I believe >> do you think it's >> I'm not saying it's we can't fix that. >> Yeah. What would you recommend to fix it though? >> Well, I I think >> seems like inconsistent enforcement and like how would you penalize somebody? >> Well, so it hurts. So, you know, carrots and sticks. First of all, we have to make sure everybody understands, you know, some of the things that that we've been talking about here and the impact of cell phones on kids and the impact of cell phones on adults.

081Um, and you know, why we would move to restricting that, right? So, I think there needs to be more instruction. We need to be talking with our staff about it, helping them understand the why. because once you understand the why, it's easier to to delve into the I'm really gonna champion this, right? So, we have a responsibility there. I think Frank um wasn't able to be here tonight, but he um texted Steve and I and talked about the value of having really engaging classes and making sure that, you know, we're teaching bell-to bell, >> right? Because offering that opportunity of like the last five minutes is break time if you the kids at the middle school don't have their phones on them but the kids at the high school do. I mean it it just

082is natural for them to pull their phones out when there's a break. So So how do we how do we make sure that our instruction is bell-to bell so that it's just not a natural opportunity? You have to have teacher buy in >> is and and I can tell you um what would bother me. >> Um I got teased by my students that the cell phones were the devil and you were to put your the devil away when you walked into my classroom because that's how I felt about them. I didn't want them out. >> They had to be turned off and on the corner right hand corner of your desk. Period. And they were very good about it. But the next teacher next door, they could do whatever they wanted. >> And so if

083you don't have teacher buyin, it isn't going to matter what we write, >> right? >> And it sounds like you guys have very good buy in at the middle school. >> We don't have 100%. >> So Joanne can hear. I would say we don't have a 100% but I think the majority of the teachers do buy in because they they've seen they've seen the issues that it causes. They've seen what happens when kids um are when things outside of class come into the school and come into their classes and incite things and they see the turmoil that kids are going through. And so I I would like to say that we really do sometimes not always consistent I want to say maybe with um staff here or there but we work on that too and

084we you know address it as we need to when we know about it. >> Can I ask you while you're still standing there you said if a teacher wants to use cell phones >> they they write to you for permission to do that and then it goes out to all of the staff. >> They do. Yeah. And I don't see why that could not be something that's implemented in the high school, too. There might be some teacher that has something that is very specific in their lesson that needs a cell phone. And that makes sense to me then. >> Yeah, Shannon did start doing that in the spring and said anybody who who need who is looking to use cell phones during class needs to email me ahead of time. And with the the rationale

085for that, >> do they have it every time they do it or is it at the beginning of the year they write an email and then that's it? >> She just started it in the spring. So I think it was by every time. >> I think it's per session each time you do it. >> Uhhuh. >> I think that's a great idea. I don't think necessarily I would believe that it's being done that way. >> Right. Well, and that's that >> and that's part of that teacher buyin. That's part of being responsible on both ends. And that's part of being on the board is we pay attention to this stuff. >> Yeah. >> And if if they can't figure it out, then we're going to make them figure it out. We'll figure it out for

086them. >> Yeah. No, I think I think that's right. >> That's why we're here. I guess it's just how much patience do we have? >> Well, um >> and it varies depending on >> my patience. Well, >> I'm really I'm really concerned here. Here's my concern. >> I'm looking at um the performance of our kids. You know, I do believe we're making some good progress in the school. And I would say upfront, the elementaryaries have really come along and really got consistent. >> Um, that helps because that's adding to the consistency that the middle school's starting with. I'm still not completely convinced that we shouldn't move the fifth grade back, but that's a different issue. Um, one of the things I see in the high school is that we don't have the same we have

08790-minute classes where we used to have one-hour classes. >> Yep. >> And we get we're not going start to finish in in a lot of those classes, which ends up being a lot of kids either on their phone for part of the day, part of the class, or in the hall. We have a lot of kids in the hallways. The biggest issue that I see with this is that I talk to kids that have graduated and now gone to college for the first year and they some of these kids have gotten excellent grades in high school and they are challenged. Mhm. >> And that tells me that we need to focus, we need to gain more focus on getting kids attention and getting them the kind of education they need. >> And so anything that

088we do related to getting off of that task, and I see cell phones as one of those things, >> is not helpful. And so from my perspective, anything we can do to improve our focus on education and there's a lot of things in this mix. This is just one thing, but to me, um, you know, you you've got to knock them off one at a time. And so for me, it's always about let's get attention to detail around how we're teaching kids and let's make sure that they have the right focus for when they're in that classroom. >> We talked well we can all have conversations with DD and Trey and everybody about it. Like one of them was like why do they have that time at the end of a period? you know, like

089would it be better if we, you know, I get frustrated because I always try and negotiate, you know, the contracts for the teachers and you advocate for them to get raises and things like that, but then I have teachers watching movies and kids texting me at the end of class when they should be teaching from bell to bell like you guys say. So, if we have a situation where there's a school where it's not maybe the class periods are too long, you know, maybe we need to engage them for a shorter period of time, but that's something these guys will have to figure out. Yeah, we I don't think we want to solve it here. It's an idea, but I think, you know, I'd encourage you guys all to talk to her about it and,

090you know, share your opinions on it. And >> as an advanced placement teacher, 90 minutes is a gift. >> Is it That's the AP kids though. I've heard those kids teach themselves, too. >> They're fighting. >> Not my not class. >> An old I I have not I did not say that, but I had a co-orker whose wife was a teacher. She loved them because she's just like they were just so eager to learn and they would always just use up the entire time. >> That is one struggle with a long class period is >> keeping both students and teachers engaged. I'll be honest, I'm the guy that I'm so I'm so ADHD. If you see me doing searching around, going through here, check my It's because I'm listening. I'm tuned in. And this is

091how I think a lot of kids are. you know, if I sit here and stare at you, I'm just I'm gonna I I can look at you and be tuned completely out, but if I'm moving, um but uh I guess when you get those longer class periods and you for I I mean you get into for me a math class of any flavor and after 45 50 minutes I'm gone. Now you get me into a welding class, 90 minutes seems like can we double this? But that goes towards what Rocky's saying about engagement and just, you know, getting the kids in places where they'll succeed and want to focus for that amount of time. And that's something we have to talk to her about. I don't think we want to solve it tonight. >> What

092about these kids that seriously um I know their performance improves when they are listening to music. What about those kids though? Because in a classroom, you have a mixed bag. You have those kids that want music on and then you have the other kids over here that are like I I would be that kid like could you shut that off? I just can't make but other kids just function really really well with it. It takes everything away and I don't know how they do it. My brain would be listening to the words all the time >> but >> I can't distinguish either. It gets worse as I get older. All right. The way I see it is like, you know, you Rocky's got some ideas. You know, I I get a lot of mine from

093my daughter to be honest with you. Um just how much she texts me. I can see improvement when they took away the phones in her grades. Like her understanding of the math concepts increased. >> Yeah. Well, and they say even behavior changes. Yeah. and they have examples of it when >> I think like like I was telling Rocky like it's something we're all concerned about and we don't know where to stop right you know like >> like LA is retracting it for some reason >> but I think you know we continue to do our diligence here and work with DD on it and try and solve the problem like Rocky's saying and at some point if this becomes such a headache that we just you know you just have to fight with kids all the

094time that's why I'm like screw it you know let's just get rid of them all together. Yeah, I think we can find a balance though. >> I hope so. >> And I think that there is a good balance already. You can have them before school, you can have them at lunch, and you can have them right away after school. The rest of the time they're in your backpack. But then it's, you know, how will parents and students connect during the day if they need to. >> Yeah. Well, that's something you guys have to think about, I think. >> They can check their texts for their parents >> in passing periods, you know, or like Dee said, you know, they're in their backpack. it's too convenient for them to to access them. Whereas with the middle

095school, they're out of sight, out of mind. >> Maybe they do make them start using their lockers >> or we do, you know, other places they have those sealed packets pouches or Yeah. I mean, there are other >> Well, we have pouches. You know, we could argue about the effectiveness, too. >> Yeah. Well, I mean, >> you don't think they're they're going to work. Most >> no these are like these are like >> pouches that seal and you you have to go to this thing to unseal it and it only unseals after school is out and they're >> retinal scan >> they're pretty retinal scan >> so you can't use Bluetooth go embassy to find out all about >> particularly in the days >> so but you know again that's an expense I think I

096think you know I think providing information to our staff whether I mean there's this guy I showed you the video there's a bunch of other people out there >> I mean personally I think you need to understand that other people are having big problems with this and that right it's you know just because you're struggling with it doesn't mean >> you know there's something wrong >> right >> so I think I think >> say I mean that I mean, I think it's good education. >> Yeah. So, I think there's a cost to that. Obviously, there's time and and you know, bringing somebody in, but I guess I would say that that probably is a great step to helping get the buy in from our staff and from parents and from student and helping students understand

097their relationship with their >> look kind of like an assembly type thing. >> It is an assembly and then he does a parent night thing and then he works with teachers. Um, and there's some other things that >> I'm just curious what the cost is for his package. >> Um, >> 12 and then and so if we if we were able to tie in with Livingston and do it at the same time, then we would probably split the flights and, you know, because you pay for the other stuff. So it's there's other stuff, too. >> Buy a hotel instead of a flight, >> right? Um so um that and we were just going to get the principal's opinion on that but he does middle school and high school. So we would do one at one

098assembly at the middle school and then a different one at the one at the high school also and then do the parent information sessions and um but I think you know that sort of positive learning can help us get to where you're envisioning us to be right. It helps people understand why there would need to be a change, right? Um including some of our staff members who may think there's no problem and you know not not be on the same page. So um so I think that would be a really positive thing. Um and then doing some more things with our other partners um like inner mountain doing the screen aers um community presentation. So that's anybody from the community can come learn about cell phones connected to teens. So so doing some more things

099like that I think are really positive and important to this work. Um and then I think we can figure out are there you know we could come up with some options for things that you may want to add to your policy. Um you know your policy already says no cell phones. Um, they can have them before school, they can have them at lunch, and they can have them after school. Um, I think because the high school feels like a different beast, maybe we need some more clarity in that to say they're not allowed in any class at any time unless you have prior permission from the principal. And >> yes, >> and we'll have to make that decision about passing periods. I think the unfortunate thing with passing periods is until you have buy in,

100until kids understand that they need to just keep their phones away, the um management of that would be >> a nightmare. >> I was reading through another article about the LA school district and that was actually >> one of the things because they were bell to bell. They were >> no lunch, no passing periods, no nothing. Um and uh it looked like one of the biggest problems was not in the classroom but in the passing period because how do you enforce that teachers trying to prep for the next class there's five minutes there's nobody out there watching the kids >> but it may be that we create the c recreate the culture help people understand how to have a healthier relationship with their phone and then put that in place the following year because we're

101at a better place in in what we're doing and kids are you know kids andies are more receptive to the idea of I'm not going to look at it until 12:15 when the lunch bell rings and they're okay with it. >> I was going to say they just have to be taught the issue about the parents and the students connecting during the day. Julie, would you talk to that? I know high school kids think that they should have everything on instant demand, but >> you know, typically if a parent has a concern about a kid, a student connecting whether whatever the issue might be, they they are really good about reaching out and making a plan, coming up with some kind of a solution or together we we work through it because maybe it is

102the anxiety, maybe it is something, but typically we always know about it. Um, and their parents are really good about reaching out and and working together with us. So, and they can still call the office and you get messages to kids >> always. Yes. >> How about the kids on the kids' end? >> They want them. >> The kids want it. They they want their phones and and all the things, but I think when they don't have it, you know, they it speaks for itself. >> Yeah. And what what would you say to that, Dave? Do you have anything to add to that? >> I mean, we it's really not an issue. Sometimes once in a great while we get into a power struggle. Student says, "No way. Not giving you my phone. You can't

103have it. It's not yours. It's I'm not giving it up. >> I paid for it." >> Yeah. We get that every every once in a great while. And then typically we get the phone, you know, eventually and work with the parent to come in and say, "Listen, this, you know," and they're again, they're really, for the majority, they're really good. Once in a while we have disgruntled parents that are frustrated and that don't like that policy because they want to get a hold of the kids. But I think once once they know how we operate, it's really hasn't been a huge huge issue. >> So again, we already have parents that have been trained by the middle school coming in. >> Sounds like the parents have more of an anxiety issue than >> I think

104I think that parents will be the biggest issue. That's my opinion. >> I don't know. With my 15-year-old, it seems like the cell phone just manufactures anxiety. It's better for her to have it at a distance and for her to learn how to deal with stuff versus texting me every two seconds. >> Adultting. Starting a little bit on the adulting side. >> That's why I'm the meanest dad in the valley. [Music] >> Did you have anything else you wanted to No. talk about I mean thing you guys wanted questions wanted to ask or anything >> I feel like it's been a very good discussion. >> Yeah. >> So would you like us to put the policy on the next board meeting with some possible revisions to discuss? Probably we want to encourage some teachers to

105come to talk about their experiences and the their ideas about pros and cons. We want to get the word out if we want to do that or we could wait and do it in August. I say we >> do we do we want to actually put it on there to start revi to revise it and approve it or do we want it for the opportunity for people to speak toward it >> be interesting to hear what some of the teachers had to say. >> I would I would really like to hear what the high school teachers say. >> I hear that but that's quite literally what this meeting was. Um, I honestly think just to kill this beast and put it put it away for the year, um, that I think we should just put

106it on there. Add some add some add some language to the tune of something about earbuds. Maybe bring it up to date and get rid of the words pagers. But, uh, >> come on. We can leave it in there just for a throwback for old times sake. >> Oh, >> hey, I want to tell you right now, I had the Nokia 252, but I never had a pager and I'm 42 years old. And if you remember the Nokia 252, well, if you can find ones today, it'll still turn on. >> Making me feel old. Walt has two pages. So, >> um I think we need to just >> What do you So, what are you thinking for your enhancement of the policy? >> Uh put some language in there about the uh >> sounds like

107everybody's kind of on board with, you know, keeping it, you know, keep not having them during passing. Um I'm >> Oh, I don't care. >> I mean, I guess >> I don't see how that's enforcable. >> Yeah. Do we want to just take do we want to give that gap then? I mean, >> I don't know. Maybe it seems to me like >> like D's talking about you phase it in where you >> Yeah. >> You say like not during class under. And if you want to catch up with your parents or text your friends during passing, that's great. Unless it becomes an issue where you start becoming >> Great. So, Rocky. >> Yeah. >> Um >> lunch passing before and after school >> and and that's 912, not you know K8, I think. >>

108Well, you guys have it handled. Yeah. I think >> Yeah. They don't do it in passing. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> I think a lot of your problems are going to end up happening in passing, that's when you're going to have your issues. >> Yeah. >> Um I think that >> but as long as they're not in the class, as long as they're focused in the class, that'd be a big plus. >> Yeah. >> Keep them out of the classroom. I think put some language in there about earbuds and for holding table sake. >> I guess I'd be curious to see what kind of penalties you would have for repeat offenders. The confiscation of parents picking them up would be on my real short list. >> Parents come in enough times, they're going to look at

109their kids, go, "Johnny, quit." >> If they keep being a repeated, you could tell them they get can't bring their phone in. That's it. >> Yeah. Ban ban the phone. >> I used to work in a secure area and we weren't allowed to bring cell phones in, but like you'd forget. Put them in your pockets. So, they would make you carry a big inflatable cell phone around for the day. I think that was a good penalty. >> Shaming. >> Yeah. like this big. Yeah. >> And then do we need to actually put it in the policy or is this kind of up to each building that a cell phone would be permitted during class if approved by the principal for instructional purposes? >> Yeah, I think that that's good language to have. >> I think

110there helps define for everybody this is this is what it is for everybody. And I also think that it shows that we're not just trying to be like a till of the hun here and just kick everybody to the curb. It says, "Okay, you got a purpose." >> You're picking on one of my heroes now. >> Okay, >> Julie, that would be okay, right? Because you deny all of them. I said that would be okay to have language in there that said if you were using it for instructional purposes, you could get approval from your principal >> and it will be and the rest of the staff will be notified so that the cell phones get put away. >> I'd love to see what they were using it for, too. That was something we could

111accommodate. >> I'm sure you could do it on Chromebook. thing is technolog is changing so fast that there could be theoretically conceivably something that could come out that would be a be an educational benefit that we can't foresee right now. Um but I don't I couldn't you know I I can't future proof myself. So, um, >> and then are you going to send that out to us to look at or >> yeah, I have to think through how we would do that. And I and I think it is important to try to get some teacher input, which is going to be harder to do in the summer, but we can send emails out and reach out to people and try to get I mean, people can send us written comments, too. [Music] I just want

112to know where you get these checks from that, you know, these rich people are sending us to make these decisions. >> How do I get my name on that? >> I'll show you when we stand next to the gold toilets and >> Okay. Thank you. >> Sounds like a good start. Thank you guys for all coming. >> Yeah, thank you. >> Thanks for sharing how you guys handle this, Julie. Good >> job. Thanks for staying. Yeah, there that'd be great. >> I was gonna say science. I remember that. >> What did they use that for? >> Can you So Jo >> I want to say it's genes and genomes and trying to figure out all the >> genetic stuff. >> I want to say they collect their data on cell phones and it analyzes it.

113Oh, okay. Makes sense. >> And with some of our ruler stuff, we do student surveys. I mean, [Music] >> I don't know. They could >> as long as it's associated with learning, it's okay. >> And then the phone go back on. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Hey, Rocky. Thanks.