Portland Public Schools reviews draft rules to implement new student cell‑phone policy

Portland Public Schools staff on Monday reviewed working draft rules meant to put the board’s recently adopted student cell‑phone policy (JFCK) into practice, focusing on how devices will be stored, how exceptions will be handled and how the district will communicate the changes to families and staff.

Dr. Warren, who led the presentation, said the document is a “working draft” meant to be aligned closely with the policy the board approved and refined with input from school and district leaders. “We’re calling these working draft, because we will continue to talk about these next week when we have our leadership retreat with school leaders,” Dr. Warren said.

The rules separate elementary and secondary practice: elementary schools would generally not need a formal storage system because comparatively few personal devices arrive at that level; secondary schools would use centralized storage plans. The district is “working on the assumption that we’ll be purchasing pouches to store phones at the high school level,” Dr. Warren said, while middle‑school practice remains under discussion so the rules can allow multiple implementation methods without requiring rule changes.

The draft lays out an exceptions process for health and other documented needs — specifically noting instances that may arise through an IEP or a Section 504 plan — and requires school principals (or lead teachers) and the relevant assistant superintendent to approve exceptions in writing. Dr. Warren said exceptions will need a rationale and supporting documentation and “it may not be that every exception is forever; it could be time‑limited” and that families may appeal a denial to the superintendent.

Staff said the rules will direct administrators to look for alternatives when families request exceptions — for example, offering a school‑issued device or a locked office storage option — rather than approving exceptions as the first response. The draft also specifies that devices should be turned off before being placed in storage to avoid disruptions.

Concerns from board members and a teacher speaker centered on who will manage enforcement and how teachers will be supported. One teacher asked whether a central office point person would be available for staff who feel uncomfortable raising issues with building administrators; Dr. Warren replied that exceptions will be routed to assistant superintendents so the central office will see and norm exception requests. A board member noted that some Portland High School teachers oppose the policy partly because of worries it will shift enforcement burdens to classroom teachers; Dr. Warren said the intent is to refer incidents to administrators so teachers are not the primary enforcers.

Discipline language in the draft is brief and will be aligned with the district’s progressive discipline committee work. Dr. Warren described progressive discipline as “meant to be supportive, not punitive,” and said the first step at all grade levels would typically be to send students to the office so staff can hold devices during the day.

The draft addresses technology and instructional needs: staff said district or school‑issued devices can be used for curricular tasks such as cameras in art class, calculators and translation tools, and that the district will identify and fill gaps. The district is piloting a classroom monitoring tool for Chromebooks (“class schools,” as described in the meeting) and plans a continued review of rules governing district‑issued devices.

Costs and communications: Dr. Warren said initial pouch purchases and other start‑up costs will come from the district budget and later be incorporated into school budgets. The district will run a communications campaign before the school year and expects schools to follow with consistent, accessible messages; the rules call for systems that allow families to communicate in their home languages and ensure accessibility for people with hearing, speech or visual disabilities. The draft also references the district’s emergency notification systems (Reach My Teach) for urgent communications.

Next steps: staff will continue refining the rules with school leaders at a leadership retreat, produce more detailed internal procedures (for example, how pouches are stored and handled during late arrivals and early departures), and prepare district‑ and school‑level communications before the start of school.