McMinnville High doubles down on 'class time is phone-free time' after mixed feedback

McMinnville High School administrators told the McMinnville School District Board of Directors on Feb. 24 that a renewed effort to enforce the school’s longstanding cell‑phone rule has reduced device use during instruction but left challenges in unsupervised spaces and in consistent enforcement across classrooms.

The update came from Dave Fuhrman, principal of McMinnville High School, who said the school reissued a rule that has appeared in the student‑family handbook for at least a decade: electronic devices must be “turned off and put away during instructional hours unless specific permission is granted by staff for educational purposes.” Fuhrman said the district provided hanging pocket charts to teachers who wanted them and told staff they could enforce the rule without being responsible for physically confiscating students’ phones.

Fuhrman said the district intentionally clarified expectations before enforcing them and used student and family feedback channels over the past year. “When a phone is out, it doesn't matter if it's the person using it or the person near them. It makes an impact on the way that they're experiencing the space that they're in,” he told the board.

Why it matters: School officials said the move was intended to boost engagement and classroom interactions. Teachers and some students told…