La Cañada Unified advances student-centered review of cell-phone policy; staff recommends shifting from 'teacher discretion' to 'course-approved'

District staff reported on work under a Challenge Success grant to rethink cell-phone and electronic-device policy using student voice, surveys and classroom experiments.

The presentation highlighted a consistent divide: many students said phones help or have no impact on learning, while teachers overwhelmingly see phones as harmful to classroom engagement. Staff summarized free-response concerns (safety, ordering food during lunch, and managing friendships) and recommended changes to improve consistency. As staff put it, the current policy language that permits phone use "at teacher discretion" should be revised to a "course-approved" model, allowing departments to specify when phones are permitted (for example, photography classes) and relieving individual teachers of ad-hoc enforcement.

Survey findings cited by staff included a substantial share of students reporting no impact and a sizable minority reporting benefit; teachers reported phone use as a negative for learning. Staff recommended experiments with ASB and peer-support groups, continued student outreach and targeted education, and specific classroom/department signage and training to implement the change.

Board members and staff discussed implementation challenges—device diversity, potential workarounds (hotspots), parental communication, and geofencing approaches used by some private schools—and emphasized that enforcement in a public-district setting is more complex than in smaller private schools. Staff said they will return later with experimental results and proposed policy language when ready.