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Okaloosa board debates revised student technology policy as state limits elementary, middle phone use
Summary
The board reviewed a draft revision to student technology and acceptable‑use rules in response to new state law restricting elementary and middle school students' phone use; members discussed teacher authority, enforcement, bus rules, pilot studies for high schools and timeline to reach 1:1 device coverage.
The School Board of Okaloosa County reviewed a draft revision to the district’s student technology and acceptable‑use policy that incorporates recent state legislation restricting elementary and middle school students’ use of personal wireless devices during the school day.
Assistant superintendent and policy presenters explained the change stems from legislation adopted earlier this year. “By law adopted this year and signed by the governor, they cannot use them except in these limited circumstances during the school day,” the district attorney said when describing the statutory change to the board.
Board members debated how rigid or flexible the district should be in high schools, where the law allows more local discretion. Several members, including Miss Zavanczyk and Mr. Heinle, argued for clearer, less ambiguous rules to reduce classroom management burdens on teachers. Zavanczyk said teachers report phones are “absolutely making them crazy in the classroom” and asked the district to consider “a more cut and dried, can they have the phone or they can't have the phone?”
Other board members and district staff emphasized that many high school teachers require occasional phone use for instruction and that the district is not yet 1:1 on student devices at the secondary level. Assistant Superintendent Lightbourne said the district should permit teacher discretion "until we're 1 to 1 and a student has a device that they carry from class to class" and described current high‑school device ratios as “better than 2 to 1.” Superintendent Chambers said moving to a full high‑school 1:1 program would be expensive and is “not within the next 48 months.”
The draft policy also codifies requirements already in place for safe storage in classrooms and grants bus drivers authority over phone use on buses. The board discussed communication and a phased implementation to notify families and staff: the district plans targeted mass communications, school‑level notices and a grace period to allow families to adapt.
The board directed staff to advertise a public hearing on the proposed revisions; the draft also is expected to be inserted into the district’s code of student conduct for the coming school year if approved. District staff said the policy includes language to clarify that certain expectations of privacy do not apply when students access external services or AI from school devices.
