Mount Lebanon displays draft technology‑usage rules: K–8 'away for the day', nuanced high‑school guidance and AI cautions

Mount Lebanon School District administrators unveiled draft technology‑usage guidelines and an implementation plan at the June 9 board meeting that would prohibit personal electronic devices during the school day in K–5, restrict them in grades 6–8 and allow more limited, supervised use in high school while adding guidance on generative artificial intelligence.

Superintendent Dr. Chrissy Friess framed the work as one of the district’s annual goals and described the process used to develop the draft: a survey sent to roughly 7,700 recipients with about 2,500 respondents, 28 focus‑group sessions with 518 participants, and work group meetings with the teachers' association and administration. “We will be informing families about these technology guidelines through email notification, our newsletters, student handbooks, starting this summer,” Friess said when describing the communication plan.

What administrators proposed: For K–5, the draft handbook language says “the use of any personal electronic device is prohibited during the school day,” devices must be turned off and stored and “devices that go off in class, ring, or vibrate will be confiscated,” language presented by Dr. Joseph Shula. The recommended elementary practice described in the slide was that phones “shall be turned off and put away in a student's locker unless approval has been granted by administration for medical or translation purposes.” The elementary discipline matrix cited a graduated response from warnings to lunch detention to parent retrieval and suspension for repeated violations.

Middle‑level guidance and AI: Dr. Ronald Davis presented the grades 6–8 draft, which repeats the prohibition during the school day, requires lockers for storage, bars device use in restrooms and locker rooms, and allows district or personally owned devices only for explicit teacher‑directed learning with Internet access through the district network. Davis also introduced classroom guidance about generative AI: “Students recognize that generative AI tools like language models and image generators can be powerful aids for learning across all disciplines,” he said, adding that students should “double check the importance of facts that are generated” and not “blindly trust all of the information that it generates.”

High school approach and discipline: Dr. Friess summarized the 9–12 language as more permissive in non‑instructional spaces: cell phones would be “strictly prohibited in academic areas or during instructional time” unless a teacher gives explicit direction, but “students are permitted to use their cell phones or their smartphones in hallways, between classes, in center court, in the student activities area,” according to the slides. High‑school disciplinary steps are analogous to the lower grades but include an option for Saturday detention and escalating consequences for repeat infractions.

Implementation, training and costs: Officials said implementation would begin with communications to families in July and return‑to‑school communications in August; students and families would be required to acknowledge the handbook language. Staff professional development and role‑playing scenarios are planned; device holders for classrooms were suggested (district inventory indicates a small purchase need). Administrators said there is minimal cost for implementation, estimating remaining purchases of roughly a dozen device holders, and that enforcement will be supported by professional development and ongoing administrative support.

Public comment: The meeting’s public‑comment period drew strong, repeated calls from parents, students, teachers and medical professionals for extending “away for the day” rules to older grades. Two elementary students told the board they wanted fewer games and more play during indoor recess; one described classmates as “bottle zombies.” Parents and experts repeatedly cited academic and mental‑health studies when urging a bell‑to‑bell ban through high school. A number of commenters asked the district to give teachers tools to manage student web use on district devices; an ESL teacher who uses GoGuardian urged deployment of classroom monitoring software so teachers can close distracting tabs and block inappropriate content in real time.

Board discussion highlights and follow up: Board members and administrators discussed operational details — whether device holders are practical for assemblies and auditoriums, how to define “appropriate social media” in policy language, whether smartwatches and earbuds should be explicitly listed in the definition of personal electronic devices, and how coaches and outside activity sponsors will be informed. Missus Genzel and others pressed for clarity about enforcement in large gatherings and requested the policy committee and board see a policy‑level document: administrators confirmed they plan to bring proposed policy language to the board’s policy committee and possibly to the board for review later in the calendar.

Where things stand: The presentation described the guidelines as administrative regulations to be enforced through the student handbook and staff training; administrators also said they will bring model PSBA electronic‑device policy language to the policy committee as a possible separate board policy in the fall. The district intends to begin family communications this July and require student and family acknowledgment of the handbook before school starts.