Committee Advances Districtwide ban on Personal Electronic Devices to Full Board; Staff to Draft Rules

The Portland Board of Public Education curriculum and policy committee voted Thursday to forward a revised student-device policy (JFCK) to the full board that would prohibit students from carrying personal electronic devices on their person during school hours, while directing staff to write school-level rules and a high-school work group to develop implementation details.

The committee vote followed more than an hour of public comment in which teachers, parents, school leaders and students largely supported a “bell-to-bell” phone-free approach but raised operational concerns about collection, storage and staff workload. Several speakers suggested locked pouches (commonly known by the brand name Yondr) or other storage systems; school leaders and staff urged more planning time for high schools because of students’ varied schedules and open-campus arrangements.

The committee’s action sends the revised April 2025 JFCK policy to the full board for consideration. The policy text circulated to the committee says students “may not have cell phones, smartwatches, earbuds or other personal electronic devices on their person at any time while at school during regular hours.” The draft retains limited exception language for medical or documented educational needs and allows staff discretion for extracurricular or field-trip uses; the rules implementing those exceptions are to be written by the superintendent or designee.

Committee members and staff said the intent of the policy is to remove enforcement pressure from classroom teachers. The draft rules presented alongside the policy emphasize that administrators—not teachers—would be responsible for enforcement and that schools should adopt efficient, low‑time procedures for collecting and storing devices. The committee and staff also discussed a formal exception and appeal process (for IEP/504 and time‑limited medical needs) and proposed that any longstanding exceptions be renewed periodically rather than permanent.

Public commenters at the meeting included teachers who said classroom time is lost by daily phone enforcement; parents who urged a spring vote for districtwide implementation next school year; and several high‑school administrators who said a district policy should be paired with more detailed implementation plans so schools can prepare without overburdening staff. Student representative Fitzgerald asked for substantially more student engagement before final adoption and noted that past district schedule changes showed the need to pilot and communicate changes with students.

Dr. Sarah Warren (executive director of strategy) and district staff told the committee the policy and draft rules are posted in BoardDocs and that a high-school work group has met twice to address high‑school logistics (open campus, internships, travel between campuses) and that additional community engagement is planned. Superintendent Scowen and committee members said the committee’s role is to set policy; staff will draft rules and procedures to implement it.

The committee took a roll-call vote to forward the revised JFCK policy to the full board. The motion passed on the committee roll call: Ali Ali — yes; Usira Ali — yes; Vice Chair (recorded in the roll call as) Vice Chair Bondo — yes; Julianne Opperman — yes. The committee recorded that the rules and detailed high-school procedures will be developed and reviewed before implementation and that staff will continue engagement with students, families and school leaders.

The revised policy will appear to the full board for its first read in a future meeting; staff said they plan further outreach and rule‑writing this spring and summer so that schools can prepare for implementation in the next school year if the full board approves the policy.

"Students should be fully present in the classroom without phone distractions," one parent said during public comment, reflecting a common theme among supporters. Administrators echoed that sentiment but urged clear, practical procedures so enforcement does not fall on classroom teachers.

The committee left open multiple operational questions—how to handle students who arrive late or leave campus, how to store devices securely, how to support multilingual families or students who rely on phones for transportation or other legitimate needs—and instructed staff to return with more detailed rules and further engagement results.