CMCSS board hears data showing rise in personal electronic device violations; staff to recommend code changes in May
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
Chief Communications Officer Anthony Johnson presented survey and enforcement data on the district's student personal electronic devices policy, reporting a roughly 29.2% increase in recorded violations after the revision, and said staff will bring recommendations tied to new technologies to the board in May.
Chief Communications Officer Anthony Johnson told the CMCSS board that enforcement of the district's student personal electronic devices policy has tracked upward since the board tightened rules last year.
Johnson said the district has recorded a 29.2% year‑to‑date increase in device violations since the revision and that violations are concentrated at the high school level — about 88% of incidents — with roughly 11% at middle schools and 1% at elementary schools. He said the district's parent survey typically gets about 17,000 responses districtwide and that the student code of conduct survey drew about 200 student responses.
"We do think that for the most part, we're having some pretty decent collaboration with families and warnings that are going out from teachers," Johnson said, adding that employee disagreement with the policy was about 6% while parent disagreement was about 14% on the revision question. He described measures the district will take this spring and summer, including principal training and clarifications about new and emerging technologies such as smart glasses.
Elijah, the student board member who helped collect student feedback, told the board students generally reported fewer distractions and more in‑person interaction after the policy change but said many students do not like the restriction and that uptake of the district's StudentSquare platform is incomplete.
Board members asked for more detail on the surveys and on how families will reach students in emergencies. Johnson said parents would still be able to contact students in emergencies, principals may allow limited access at lunch at their discretion, and the district plans to emphasize StudentSquare use and provide recommendations for the board's May review of the student code of conduct.
The board did not take final action on the code at the meeting; staff said they will return with recommended language and any required compliance updates in May.