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Millard board approves districtwide device-use rule defining instructional time and exceptions
Summary
Board approved rule 7,500.2 to standardize acceptable use of electronic devices by grade level, define "instructional time," and codify exceptions for medical or emergency needs.
The Millard Public Schools Board of Education approved rule 7,500.2 Monday, establishing a districtwide acceptable-use framework for electronic devices that clarifies what counts as instructional time at elementary, middle and high school levels and lists exceptions for medical or emergency needs.
Administrators and staff presented the rule as an effort to replace inconsistent building-level language with a single, grade-level definition intended to be clearer for parents, students and school staff. The district said the change "changes almost nothing procedurally" but resolves ambiguity about terms such as "class time," "passing period" and "instructional time."
The rule includes exceptions that mirror the state statute, presenters told the board: for example, students who rely on devices for a documented medical need such as blood-sugar monitoring may have access during the school day. The presenters also said the legislature's statute had already codified emergency and medical exceptions.
Board members asked how the policy would be communicated; staff said the rule will be summarized in the district newsletter, in building communications and in school handbooks before the start of the next school year. They said administrators will receive notice immediately if the board ratifies the rule so language can be added to online handbooks.
On enforcement, staff said the district's existing code of conduct covers disruptive or insubordinate behavior and that discipline for phone violations has typically been graduated (e.g., phone confiscation, lunch detention, parent pickup). The board's discipline committee will continue to review whether the code needs cell-phone-specific language.
Board members praised the district's rollout of monitoring tools used by some teachers to ensure responsible instructional use of devices and emphasized that administrators retain authority to act more restrictively on a case-by-case basis when needed.
The motion to approve rule 7,500.2 passed by voice/roll call. Staff said follow-up communications about the change would appear in the district newsletter and school handbooks over the summer.
