Spokane Public Schools will ban cellphone use in classrooms next year.
The district plans to implement the proposal before school starts in September, superintendent Adam Swinyard said.
The district is the third biggest in the state, with more than 28,000 enrolled.
“I just really want to help the next generation as much as possible to have healthy boundaries,” Spokane Public Schools Board President Nikki Otero Lockwood said. “In doing this, we’re creating healthy boundaries, I believe.”
The proposed additions to the district’s policy outline when students can use their mobile devices in school, with exceptions for emergencies and administrator approval.
In high school, pupils will be barred from using their phones in classrooms, but still permitted during lunch, between class periods and before or after school.
Middle schoolers wouldn’t be allowed to use their phones during school hours, except during their lunch break, per the draft policy, though the board recommended prohibiting lunchtime use.
Elementary schools would impose the strictest procedures, only permitting use before and after school.
The proposal offers districtwide consistency on cellphone expectations, something that had previously been left up to schools to determine. Often, schools leave policies up to the discretion of teachers, creating a policy patchwork in classes and schools.
High schools have a role to play, Swinyard said, in teaching their pupils when it is appropriate to use their devices.
The district surveyed its students, staff and families about the draft. Of the roughly 700 students who responded, 170 were in favor of the restriction, calling phones a distraction to their learning. The rest were less enthusiastic, said Scott Kerwien, director of student success.
The proposal restricts more than just cellphones, applying to gaming devices and smartwatches, and any portable electronic device that can send messages, make calls, play games or videos.
The proposal also outlines procedures if a student is caught in violation of the policy. At their first offense, a student is to be reminded of the policy. Any future times they’re caught using their phone during class, staff would confiscate the device and return it at the end of the day. The school would notify parents and may hold a meeting if “excessive offenses continue.”
Cellphone restrictions have been growing in popularity across the nation, with conversations at school, district and state levels.
Salk Middle School decided to implement last September a full school prohibition of use, including during lunches and between class periods.
Staff found the year to be a “marked change” in their school, with less discipline and more engagement in class. By the end of the school year, many students had adjusted to the policy and found they built deeper connections with their peers, especially at lunchtime.
Middle school lunches were the crux of the board’s conversation Wednesday. Most of the adult respondents to the survey suggested prohibiting cellphone use during lunch, contrary to the district’s draft. Board members advised they shouldn’t be permitted during lunch.
“It feels like if we’re ever going to get to a situation where a high school lunch can be conversations and not half the time on the phones, we have to start in middle school,” board member Mike Wiser said.
Swinyard predicts restricting phone use will be a “turbulent” transition with “ebbs and flows” as students, staff and families acclimate to the changes.
He acknowledged the policy presents some “give and take.” Many educators permit student phone use to supplement their academics, in class trivia games like Kahoot, to quickly look up information or check their grades or assignments, many of which are online.
The district supplies laptops to each student, but surveyed students said they’re unreliable and not as efficient as their phones, which present “educational technology opportunities,” Swinyard said.
“We’re going to give up some of that, because we’re in a battle of loss of engagement by having it in their hands,” Swinyard said.
“We’re making a calculated choice weighing the benefits and the downsides.”
Seattle Times staff contributed to this report.