The Centennial School District Governing Board held a first reading of a proposed policy to restrict student use of personal electronic devices during instructional hours, as required by a governor's executive order, and reviewed survey results from students, parents and staff ahead of a vote expected next month.

Board members said the policy matters because it must be adopted by the end of the month to comply with the executive order and will take effect Jan. 1; district staff emphasized the need for clear communication, consistent enforcement and multilingual materials for families.

Director Olsen presented survey results gathered this fall from 1,623 students, 312 parents and 108 staff responses and summarized the main themes: safety and emergency access, requests for multilingual communication, inconsistent enforcement, and requests for clearer definitions and procedures. "Many parents worried that students couldn't contact them during emergencies, and wanted students to be able to carry their cell phones on their person in the event of an of a true emergency," Director Olsen told the board. She said Spanish-speaking parents raised the emergency access concern more frequently in the Spanish-language responses.

The draft policy as presented would prohibit personal electronic devices on a student's person or in their clothing during regular instructional hours; devices may be kept in backpacks or school-provided classroom storage. Director Olsen explained the district removed permissive language that would let staff authorize student device use for ad hoc activities, saying the district will provide devices when technology is needed for curriculum so access remains equitable. "If we're providing curriculum and we're saying that you need to access x, I'll be honest. We need to provide the access and it needs to be equitable," Principal Miller said.

Board members pressed for clarifications on several practical issues raised in the survey and in the discussion. Director Stanley asked how open-campus lunch is handled for students who will be off campus and therefore unable to carry a phone; district staff said off-campus passes are accompanied by discussions of the expectations for phone use. On accommodations, district staff said IEP and 504 accommodations are reviewed annually; teams determine whether phone use remains required as part of the IEP. When asked how confiscated phones are returned, Principal Miller said buildings often return phones pending a scheduled meeting with the family and that the district treats the process as restorative rather than punitive.

Vice Chair Morgan asked about current compliance levels; Principal Miller said fewer than 10% of students have reached a third instance of noncompliance overall and offered to provide more detailed data to the board.

Board members discussed specific wording and implementation tools. Director Newman asked whether exemption forms and related materials will be available in multiple languages; staff confirmed they will. Director Shields and others urged clear, public-facing communications about the policy rationale, emergency protocols and how families can contact students during schedule changes.

This was a first read; no final vote was taken. The board signaled it will return the policy for second reading and adoption at its next meeting. Staff reiterated that exemption requests will be handled through the administrative regulation (AR) and that appeals go to the superintendent or designee.

The board and staff said they will continue to refine definitions (for example, "off and away"), clarify whether storage language will reference classroom storage or hallway lockers, and provide additional multilingual outreach and parent resources before the final vote.