TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) — Cell phone usage in schools was discussed Tuesday during the Kansas State Board of Education (KSDE) meeting.
The board members voted to accept the recommendations of the Blue-Ribbon Task Force on Student Screen Time by a vote of 10-0. The recommendations will now be provided to individual Kansas school districts for consideration for implementation at the local level.
“This is not the state board telling any local district what you shall do,” Randy Watson, commissioner of education, said during the meeting. “What districts asked and what prompted this – where districts were saying ‘we’re small, we need some help, what does the research say?’ I think this task force looked at that and said ‘here’s our best answer to that research.’ Those guidelines, those would go to districts then to assist them if they choose to do anything or whatever they might choose to do, but it would not be to say the state board is enacting these on behalf of any school district.”
KSDE first revealed its plans to form a Blue-Ribbon Task Force on Student Screen Time headed by Watson to investigate the non-academic use of cell phones in the state’s classrooms in July 2024. In October, the task force of students, teachers, administrators and other educational representatives overwhelmingly voted to approve a phone ban for all grade levels during the school day. Some recommendations on the use of personal devices in school from the task force include:
- School districts should implement a bell-to-bell personal electronic device policy in K-12 schools. Bell-to-bell policies mean personal electronic devices are turned off during the school day, including during lunch and in between classes.
- School districts should start a policy for K-12 students to store personal electronic devices in a secure location not accessible to students during the school day.
- School districts are encouraged to create safety and emergency procedures that are not dependent on students contacting authorities or family with personal electronic devices or school-issued devices.
- School districts should develop a process for teachers to report gaps in district-provided technology so teachers do not supplement lack of or insufficient district-issued technology with the use of personal devices.
- School districts should make a personal device policy for staff.
Some Kansas schools, such as Seaman High School in Shawnee County, have already implemented a ‘zero tolerance’ policy regarding cell phones in the classroom. Phone bans are aimed at helping students fight anxiety and increase focus.
You can watch a video of the meeting by clicking here.