Lakeville school board holds second reading of cell-phone policy; middle schools favor locker storage, high schools favor in-class limits

Lakeville Area Schools reviewed a second reading of a proposed student cell-phone policy on Jan. 28, 2025, with staff describing different approaches by level: the draft would bar phones during instructional time K-12, but middle schools want devices kept in lockers while high schools would permit limited phone use during passing time and lunch.

Brenda Albrecht, executive director of Administrative Services, told the board that recent state legislation requires districts to adopt a policy on students' possession and use of cell phones in schools by March 15, 2025; the provision, effective May 18, 2024, also asks state principal associations to provide best-practice guidance. Principal Kim Booty of Lakeville North High School described a high-school approach that focuses on "bell-to-bell" instruction: "From bell to bell during class, phones should be put away because we want them to truly focus in on instruction," Booty said, while acknowledging students need phone access at times for transportation or work.

Dr. Alexander, representing the district's three middle schools (Kenwood, McGuire and Century), recommended a stricter practice: middle-school students should store devices in their lockers so they are removed from temptation. "Our kiddos don't quite have the maturation of a high school student who can self-regulate," Dr. Alexander said. He described a current middle-school practice this year where devices are kept in lockers and reported it has been successful.

Board members asked how the policy would be enforced. Booty described classroom-level options: teachers may require students to keep phones in backpacks or use phone pockets that teachers collect for assessments. The discipline sequence described was asking students to put phones away, placing the device on the desk on a second prompt, and bringing the device to the office after a third infraction. For middle schools the practice is to ask students to return phones to lockers and, if necessary, collect the device and follow the school's progressive discipline and parent-notification procedures.

Nicole Adams, addressing a consent-agenda hiring question, told the board the district has five school-success liaisons with a sixth starting next week; the liaisons currently are on 185-day contracts and the board reviewed a proposal to move them to 205 days funded from the A&I (Achievement and Integration) budget. Adams said the additional days are used for family outreach and community events when students are not in session.

Board members also raised related policy questions: whether the policy scope should explicitly include emergent devices (for example, Internet-enabled glasses or AI-capable devices) or whether the phrasing "personal electronic devices" is broad enough. Director Brian (Bridal) Thompson asked whether recording school employees without permission would be treated as a violation; staff said the policy prohibits students from recording others on school property without permission and that enforcement would consider context and privacy protections, with the school's policy document serving as the basis for any disciplinary follow-up.

Other clarifications from staff: assistive-technology devices assigned through Individualized Education Programs generally use district-issued devices (iPads or Chromebooks) rather than personal phones so students with IEPs do not appear different from peers; watches have generated few infractions but earbuds are a recurring enforcement issue. Several trustees suggested the board's policy committee review language for elementary, middle and high school differences, clarify locker/cubby language for younger grades that lack lockers, and ensure exemptions for medical management and documented assistive-technology needs.

No final vote was taken on the cell-phone policy at the Jan. 28 meeting; trustees agreed to have a policy-committee review and to return with recommended language in time to meet the statutory adoption deadline of March 15, 2025.