Bartlesville school board schedules parent education sessions on student cellphone and social media use

Bartlesville — The superintendent told the Bartlesville School Board on Dec. (during the regular meeting) that the district will hold a series of parent education sessions next month focused on student cellphone and social media use, starting Jan. 20 immediately after the school board meeting.

The superintendent said the first session will be timed to coincide with freshmen enrollment nights so it can reach the largest group of parents and students. "We're really just trying to help. I mean, this is something that we're all dealing with. You know, we're not trying to be the police on cell phones or anything. We're really just trying to help," the superintendent said, describing plans to invite a judge or a resource officer to discuss safety and legal issues and to include parents and students on panels.

The sessions are intended to provide information and generate parent-to-parent consensus about practices the district might adopt. The superintendent said the district will also gather books and printed resources to make them available to parents, and that sessions will be offered for incoming freshmen, middle-school parents (during fifth-to-sixth grade nights) and elementary parents at times still being scheduled.

Board members and staff discussed possible statewide policy activity: the superintendent said there has been interest at the state level in proposals addressing student cellphones and that the Senate education chair, Adam Pugh, has shown interest in the issue. The superintendent added that some states have offered optional programs with funding to help schools implement phone-management systems, and said the district is watching those models for feasible options.

The superintendent described one model as a "pouch" system used in some Arkansas districts and noted cost concerns: "the pouch, if we went to that pouch route, that's about $30 a pouch. I think about this. So it's kinda like a textbook for kid," the superintendent said, adding that such a cost could be prohibitive without outside funding.

No formal policy or vote was taken; the board was informed of the plan and asked for feedback. The superintendent said staff will send details about the first parent night and that all parents will be invited, regardless of grade level.

Questions from board members included whether state funding might become available and whether the district had unused settlement or grant funds that could be applied; staff said opioid-settlement funds and other previously allocated grants had already been committed and would not provide new money for a phone-management program.

The district plans to present additional details to the board before any change in school practice would be proposed.