Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Cell Phone Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Grants Pass High School staff reinforce district cell-phone rule; trial of extra Chromebook chargers planned
Summary
District staff reported renewed enforcement of the one-year-old JFCEV cell phone policy, and the high school will trial extra Chromebook chargers and power strips to reduce in-class phone use.
Grants Pass School District 7 staff told the policy committee they will keep the district's current cell-phone policy in place and pursue targeted steps at Grants Pass High School to reduce classroom phone use.
School administrators reported that the district's existing policy (adopted about one year earlier) prohibits student cell phones during instruction "bell to bell," while allowing phone use in passing periods and at lunch. Michelle Naper, who presented staff survey results, said most classroom problems are concentrated at the high school level and that a staff survey identified several legitimate instructional uses for phones in some classes (for example, astronomy apps, digital marketing, FAFSA two-factor authentication).
Naper said 24 of 75 responding teachers reported students sometimes use phones when a Chromebook is uncharged or slower; to address that, the high school plans a trial that will supply roughly 20 teachers with extra Chromebook chargers and a power strip for their classrooms to test whether easier charging reduces phone use. Naper also described a recent clerical day when staff were reminded of the policy and given examples of classroom routines to keep phones away during instruction.
Board members asked whether the reinforcement had occurred at middle and elementary schools. Staff said middle schools are "a little behind" the high school conversation but are discussing QR-code use and classroom practices; elementary schools keep phones out of students' possession during the school day. The committee also asked about special cases: staff explained medical exceptions (for example, students using phones to access diabetes pump data) are handled confidentially through the nurse or an IEP and documented with classroom teachers.
On enforcement, staff said existing processes include teacher observations, administrator follow-up, and documentation in observation feedback when teachers are not enforcing the policy. Administrators said failure to follow policy is addressed between the site administrator and the teacher and could lead to disciplinary conversation if necessary.
The committee approved continuation of the current district policy and asked staff to report back on enforcement and the charger pilot.
