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Leavenworth schools approve student-device rules to comply with new Kansas law
Summary
A district committee recommended and the board approved handbook language and an implementation plan to comply with House Bill 2299: students must silence and store personal electronic devices during the school day, with IEP/medical exemptions; the plan includes lockers/secure storage, progressive discipline, and estimated equipment costs.
The Leavenworth USD 453 board on June 8 approved committee recommendations and handbook language to implement House Bill 2299, the new Kansas law that prohibits student access to personal electronic devices during the school day except where the board’s policy provides an exemption.
Principal and committee chair Mr. Van told the board the 14-member committee, which included building representatives from elementary, middle and high schools, drafted consistent elementary- and secondary-level procedures, defined devices broadly (cell phones, tablets, smartwatches, earbuds, smart glasses, gaming devices), and recommended a progressive-discipline approach for violations.
"It requires all Kansas public and non-public schools to adopt policies prohibiting student use of personal electronic devices during the school day with devices stored in inaccessible locations unless students qualify for exemption conditions," Mr. Van said, summarizing the statute and the committee's work.
Committee recommendations included: - Elementary procedures: devices silenced and stored in student book bags or designated classroom storage (teacher-designated cubbies); the school will provide alternative secure storage if a student does not bring a bag. - Secondary procedures: devices silenced and stored in lockers during the school day; the district will pursue an equitable, one-to-one locker solution at the high school where necessary. - Exemptions: IEP/504 or documented medical needs (for example, blood‑sugar monitoring) will be evaluated by the appropriate team; the committee recommended enrollment and year-round mechanisms for exemption requests. - Progressive discipline: documented incidents with parent contact for early offenses, parent/guardian meetings on repeated offenses and escalating consequences up to out‑of‑school suspension in repeated defiance cases. - Implementation needs: secure lockboxes for elementary offices (approximate total cost $250 for elementary sample boxes per building) and larger secure lockers/lockers stackers and an estimated $45,000–$50,000 to add roughly 300 lockers at the high school if required.
Board members asked how confiscated devices would be handled; the committee said students would bring seized devices to the office, staff would secure devices in an envelope labeled with the student's name, and the district would keep the devices in a locked vault accessible only to authorized administrators. The committee emphasized that initial enforcement would be progressive and that staff modeling of device behavior would be part of implementation.
The board voted to accept the committee's recommendation and the proposed handbook language so administration could finalize enrollment acknowledgements, exemption forms and funding requests for lockers or lockboxes ahead of the August school year start.
What happens next: administration will finalize a single-page communications summary for families, embed exemption acknowledgements in enrollment materials, and return vendor bids/costs for lockers and lockboxes to the board for budget approval.
