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Westlake board approves handbooks while staff prepares cell-phone policy tied to new state budget law
Summary
The board approved student handbooks for 2025–26 and discussed implementing changes required by a recent state budget bill that restricts classroom phone use; district plans stricter PK–6 limits, conditional middle school exceptions and looser high-school rules.
The Westlake Board of Education voted to approve the 2025–26 student and parent handbooks and heard a presentation from Superintendent Dr. Goggin about changes coming from a recent state budget bill that addresses student cell-phone use. Dr. Goggin said the district will adopt a policy that largely prohibits phone use in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, requires phones to be kept in lockers or cubbies, permits limited, principal-approved instructional exceptions in middle school and allows unstructured phone use in high-school hallways and cafeterias. “The core behind it is instruction,” Dr. Goggin said when explaining classroom exceptions; she also described principal-approved, lesson-specific exceptions in middle-school classes and said the district would “allow the unstructured time whether it's, passing in the halls or the lunchroom” for grades 9–12. Nut graf: The district is aligning handbooks with state legislation that takes effect on Jan. 1; administrators told the board they preferred starting the school year with a consistent policy rather than amending handbooks midyear. Dr. Goggin said the budget bill was passed in June and the district received updated policy language less than a month later. She told the board that implementing the revised rule did not require a large shift from current practice and that some instructional uses (for example, an iPhone photography lesson or QR-code voting during assemblies) would remain possible under principal authorization. The board discussed communication plans. Dr. Goggin said the district would add explanatory materials to the district website and rely on building principals to notify families and staff. The superintendent also noted medical exceptions would be handled through parent communications and school clinics (for example, for students who need phone-based monitoring for diabetes). The board approved the handbooks in a motion on the record (roll-call vote recorded in the transcript). Dr. Goggin said a separate board policy will move through the policy committee and two readings as required by board rules. Ending: The board approved handbooks now so the district can start the year with a single, clear set of rules; officials said they will educate families and staff before school begins.
