Parent urges exemption from phone restrictions after child was lost and traumatized

At the Jan. 28 Palm Springs Unified School District board meeting, parent Selena Flores asked the board to allow exemptions to an upcoming cell phone policy after recounting a January incident she said left her daughter lost and emotionally traumatized.

Flores said her daughter did not bring a phone because Flores believes phones are a classroom distraction. Flores described an incident on the first day of school in which her child was put on the wrong bus stop and became separated from school staff; Flores said she was notified only after a stranger called her and that the episode caused her daughter to return to therapy.

"I will have an exemption letter," Flores told the board, adding she would pursue an exemption so her daughter could call her if similar events occur. "I will not go through this trauma again. I suffer from PTSD."

Nut graf: The district has been developing a policy in response to AB 3216, which requires districts to adopt rules limiting cell phone use during instructional time while permitting emergency use. Superintendent Dr. Simone Kovach said the law is not a ban and the district's policy must allow emergency use, including for medical reasons.

During her remarks Superintendent Kovach acknowledged public concern and said the district completed a survey on phone limits on Jan. 24 and will present more detail in a forthcoming staff report. She told the board that AB 3216 "is not a ban" and that the district must allow emergency uses of phones. The superintendent also said any final policy must be in place by July 1, 2026.

Ending: The superintendent said staff will follow up with the parent and investigate the incident Flores described; the board did not vote on a phone policy at the Jan. 28 meeting.