Tacoma School District principals describe varied approaches and challenges to student cell‑phone use

Superintendent Garcia opened a board study session by framing a districtwide review of personal electronic device rules, saying the board is in an information‑gathering phase and will not make decisions at the meeting.

Three Tacoma School District principals — Lisa Gibbs of Edna Travis Elementary School, Amy Latimer of Baker Middle School and David McColgan of Mount Tahoma High School — presented how their schools apply district policy and described results and implementation challenges.

The discussion matters because district policies give both broad district authority and specific local discretion: policy 2022 authorizes the superintendent to adopt guidelines for electronic resources and personal devices; regulation 6973 governs acceptable use of district networks; and discipline rules in 3240 and 3241 set districtwide responses when student device use disrupts learning.

Lisa Gibbs, principal at Edna Travis Elementary, said the school’s most frequent problem in recent years was students using phones at recess to record other students and post the videos on social media. "The biggest challenge that we have faced in the last, I guess, 2 plus 0.3 months years is students using their cell phones during recess to videotape other students and then posting those videos," Gibbs said, adding that a combination of clearer communication to families and consistent enforcement has reduced incidents at her school.

Amy Latimer, principal at Baker Middle School, described a stricter approach. "Cell phone free means from the time you enter our door until the time you leave," Latimer said, explaining that Baker implemented a campus‑wide phone ban last year. Latimer said the school used advance communication with families, grade‑level assemblies for students and staff training to maintain consistency. She reported declines in cyberbullying on campus, fewer fights and increased student engagement, and said discipline data did not show disparate impacts on students of color.

Mount Tahoma Principal David McColgan described an approach that focuses on classroom enforcement with escalation steps and options for families. McColgan said the school asks teachers to start classes by directing students to put devices away, applies teacher‑level interventions and detentions for violations, and offers families the option of confiscation for the day. "100% of families say confiscate the phone," McColgan said, describing family buy‑in that reduced device visibility and improved classroom engagement.

Principals and board members discussed implementation concerns staff raised: safe storage of phones (for example, if students do not want to keep phones in backpacks), staff workload when enforcement is inconsistent across classrooms, and the need for clear parent communication. Gibbs noted transportation (bus) incidents are handled by the district transportation office, not the school.

Board members and staff emphasized that current district policy allows individual schools to tailor rules to their student population and developmental level while discipline provisions (3240/3241) provide a districtwide backstop if device use disrupts education. The presenters and board members said the district will continue to collect information during the school year to inform any future policy changes.

The principals were dismissed after the presentation and no formal board vote or policy change occurred at the session. The board noted it would request additional information before considering any districtwide policy action.