Washoe trustees approve districtwide 'Phone Away, Learn Today' rollout aligned with state law

The Washoe County School District Board of Trustees voted 7-0 on July 29 to move the district’s Phone Away, Learn Today pilot to full-scale implementation, a change district staff said will align local practice with Senate Bill 444 and Nevada Revised Statute 392.4637.

Area Superintendent Chris Hackbush told trustees the district cross‑walked the new state law with the district’s draft administrative regulation and found the pilot work was already tightly aligned. "We were pleasantly happy and surprised to see that the work and the collaboration of our district and our board, having a pilot policy aligned very tightly to the Senate Bill 444," Hackbush said in the presentation.

The board summarized reasons for the action as reclaiming instructional time and creating consistent expectations across schools. Hackbush described school-level implementation steps: revise the administrative regulation to match SB 444, update staff and student handbooks, revise the behavior matrix so discipline aligns with the state‑required progressive approach, and calibrate how technology violations are entered into Infinite Campus so districtwide data are comparable from day one of the school year.

Principals’ feedback collected after the pilot indicated that most sites planned teacher monitoring, walkthroughs and teacher surveys to enforce rules; 50–53 percent of schools used the district social‑emotional learning lessons provided during the pilot and rated them useful, staff said. Principals asked staff for a few clarifications during the summer — chiefly treatment of smartwatches and how exceptions for special education, 504 plans and emergencies would operate.

Trustees asked about supports for schools that struggled during the mid‑year pilot and about how the district will ensure consistent enforcement. Hackbush said the district plans to focus on building teacher capacity around classroom management and to use positive behavior supports at every site. He also said the district would communicate expectations to families before school starts and would use progressive discipline where violations are recorded in the student information system.

Public comment included a substitute teacher and community member who said smartwatches and phone access had disrupted instruction during the pilot and urged consistent enforcement. Trustee JJ Phoenix moved to approve the rollout; the motion was seconded by Vice President Mayberry. The motion carried, 7-0.

Implementation timeline: the district plans communications and staff calibration ahead of the new school year, including training and an updated behavior matrix and entry instructions in Infinite Campus. District staff said they will review data during the year to measure effects on classroom instruction and will report back to the board.

Votes at a glance - Motion: "Approve the plan to launch the full scale implementation of the Phone Away and Learn Today program in align with NRS 392.4637." Mover: Trustee JJ Phoenix; Second: Vice President Mayberry. Tally: Yes 7, No 0. Outcome: approved.