Operations committee reviews student handbook changes, tightens phone and backpack rules

The Platteville School District Operations Committee reviewed proposed student handbook revisions that would tighten rules on cellphones and backpacks, clarify illness guidance and change the sixth-grade schedule.

Principal Krantz told the committee teacher teams, a behavioral support group and an academic support team helped draft changes, and a student committee also reviewed the proposals. Krantz said the drafts exposed a gap between the district’s cellphone expectations and how backpacks are used: “backpacks not being allowed in the classroom, basically, is the the big adjustment,” he said, adding that enforcing a locker-first approach will require communication and retraining.

A staff presenter outlined how the revisions add practical options for handling confiscated phones — lockboxes in the office, lockable bank bags and giving students a choice about returning phones at the end of the day. She said the district aims to reduce confrontations and described the issue bluntly: “it’s become an addiction and almost, an extension of themselves.”

The committee discussed logistics: the high school would prioritize locker locations after a recent reduction in available lockers (the presenter estimated roughly 30 extra lockers remain but some are in less convenient locations); the proposal would require students to use assigned lockers so backpacks are not carried into classrooms. The committee also reviewed an update to illness guidance to give clearer expectations for when students should stay home and a proposal to change sixth-grade scheduling from 80-minute blocks to 50-minute reading and 50-minute language blocks (with a 100-minute literacy allocation).

A presenter identified on the agenda as the Westview representative said that school’s handbook will continue to require that phones remain in backpacks once students enter the building, and that Westview will mark arrivals after 08:45 as a half day unless excused by a doctor’s note or parental excuse; the presenter said the school is dropping a prior incentive that had grouped students with multiple referrals because it was ineffective.

Committee members repeatedly emphasized the need to monitor the transition and to communicate clearly with families. Chair summarized that the operations committee agreed to forward the handbook items to the regular board meeting on the second Wednesday in June for further consideration.

The committee did not take a formal on-the-record vote in the transcript; the Chair moved the items forward to the board for action.