Fairbanks North Star Borough School District reviews draft student personal electronic devices policy; first reading set for May 6

At a school board work session, Fairbanks North Star Borough School District staff presented a draft policy and accompanying administrative regulation intended to regulate student access to personal electronic devices during the school day and said they plan to bring the policy for a first reading on May 6.

District staff described the proposal as an effort to create a single, consistent approach across elementary, middle and high schools to reduce classroom distraction, support student engagement and limit harms such as cyberbullying and disruptions during emergencies. "The goal is to have consistent and clear limitation on access to and use of personal electronic devices during the school day," a presenter said.

The presentation summarized national research and local district data. Staff cited John Hattie’s meta-analysis (Visible Learning) as finding a negative effect of mobile phones on learning (effect size reported in the packet as –0.24 across studies covering roughly 350,000 students). The presentation also referenced national surveys (including NEA membership survey results supplied in board materials) showing high educator support for broad restrictions and material from the Phone Free Schools movement describing usage and…