District 128 committee recommends consistent classroom 'cell‑phone hotels' and community messaging

A committee convened by Community High School District 128 presented recommendations to the board Wednesday urging consistent classroom rules and a communitywide communications campaign to limit student cell‑phone use during instruction.

The committee, formed under the district’s health and well‑being strand, concluded that existing board policy — which allows students to have phones but requires they not be used during class except for instruction — is adequate on paper but inconsistently implemented across teachers and buildings.

Committee members said research and local surveys show heavy phone and social‑media use among adolescents is linked to attention fragmentation, sleep disruption and other harms, and that those effects can reduce classroom learning time. Doctor Nelson, a committee presenter, summarized national research and local survey findings and said attention pulls from phones are “profound” for students.

Students and staff who testified at the committee meeting described how removing immediate access to phones improved focus. “If I even have my phone… the further it is away from me, the better I can pay attention,” said Lauren Shea, a member of the principals advisory board. Sophia Jackman, another student member, said a unified policy would reduce cheating and distraction in tests.

Greg Stilling, assistant principal at Vernon Hills High School, cited a staff survey showing widespread use of what the committee called “cell‑phone hotels” — secure places for phones during class — and said two‑thirds of teachers use that approach daily. Stilling said the staff survey found 88 percent of teachers would support universal use of cell‑phone hotels.

Mary Totterick, the district’s communications director, told the board the committee’s work shows the district’s policy language and student handbook are sufficient but that implementation must be strengthened through messaging, teacher training and a tiered support plan for students who need extra help complying. “The wording of our current policy is sufficient. But the problem lies within the implementation, and we need to strengthen that,” Totterick said.

Committee recommendations include encouraging widespread use of cell‑phone hotels across classrooms, running a community education campaign explaining the why and the how of phone‑free instruction, and creating tiered supports — a universal expectation for all students with additional interventions where students struggle or have documented, individual needs (for example, medical exceptions).

Board members asked about timing and whether pending state legislation would require a faster rollout. Committee members said the district anticipated using the summer and the start of the next school year to implement messaging and procedural details if the state law (a proposal from Governor Pritzker that passed the Senate) moves forward and sets a deadline.

The committee emphasized accommodations for medical needs and other individual circumstances, and said disciplinary expectations and procedures would be clarified and communicated to families. The committee did not seek immediate board action; it offered the report for discussion and recommended the board consider an implementation timeline and communication plan ahead of the fall term.

The district will continue committee outreach, develop parent and staff messaging and return with specific procedural recommendations and language for inclusion in staff expectations and, if desired by the board, the student handbook.