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Board adopts 2024–25 student handbook, adds clarified cell-phone rules
Summary
Perrydale SD 21 approved the 2024–25 student/parent handbook with an amendment to the cell-phone policy requiring devices be stored in bags or lockers and set to silent; board also asked staff to add policy numbers to handbook references.
The Perrydale SD 21 School Board unanimously adopted the 2024–25 student/parent handbook with a board amendment to the district’s cell-phone language.
Board discussion focused on clearer discipline procedures and the cell-phone policy. Staff described the handbook changes as largely editorial and aimed at consistency; the student-discipline section was expanded to enumerate first, second and repeated offenses and associated responses (SEG 702–709). At the board’s request, staff will add policy numbers to cross-references in the handbook (SEG 730–736, SEG 1146–1150).
On the cell-phone policy, staff said the handbook will require personal electronic devices to be stored in students’ bags or lockers during the school day and to be kept on silent; storage allows access in emergencies (SEG 751–759, SEG 1074–1080). One board member raised safety concerns, asking how parents would reach children in an emergency; staff and a colleague pointed to a handbook provision stating phones can be kept in a student’s bag or locker and that classroom or office phones remain available for family contact (SEG 946–955, SEG 1074–1080). The board amended the handbook to add the silence requirement and to include policy numbers for discipline references before adopting the document (SEG 1142–1163).
Staff also described practical enforcement steps discussed during the meeting, such as occasional checks of pockets or lockers and reminders to students that devices must be stored; the board said it preferred consistency and education over extreme measures such as specialized pouches used in some other districts (SEG 872–886). A staff member reported Jump Start kindergarten had about 90% attendance this year as part of the Superintendent’s Spotlight presentation earlier in the meeting (SEG 303–305).
The handbook adoption passed unanimously. The board directed staff to finalize handbook language with the agreed amendments and to distribute the handbook and a one-page student note explaining the rules to families before the school year begins (SEG 1142–1163).
