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Frankfort-Elberta board reviews revised handbooks and tightens student device rules
Summary
The Frankfort-Elberta Area Schools administration presented updated elementary and secondary handbooks aligned to model policy language and the board discussed a new device rule that would prohibit middle-school phone use during instructional hours; the district will monitor enforcement and report back.
The Frankfort-Elberta Area Schools administration presented updated student and staff handbooks and course guides and urged the board to approve revised language that aligns district guidance with model (Neola) policies and federal compliance requirements.
Administrators described a suite of handbook changes affecting parents and staff, including updates to student rights and responsibilities, Title IX and harassment language, field-trip expectations, bus rules and video-on-bus notices, and streamlined bullying and grievance procedures. The packet also adds federal compliance text and restates parent-involvement policy language identified in policy 2112.
Board members and administrators spent substantial time on the district's device policy. The packet language states that device use for middle-school students (grades 6–8) is prohibited during the instructional day; administrators explained the operational interpretation is that middle-school students must not have access to phones during instructional hours (phones are expected to be kept out of use, e.g., in lockers) and that devices found in use will be confiscated and sent to the office.
Administrators described enforcement methods piloted or considered in other districts: teacher-handled envelopes that travel to the office, confiscation with parent pick-up, and consistent whole-school implementation rather than ad-hoc teacher enforcement. Board members asked for clarifying language to avoid legal ambiguity (for example, distinguishing prohibiting use versus prohibiting possession in the building) and requested the administration return in January with a monitoring report on effects and compliance.
The discussion also covered closed-campus rules and lunch release for juniors and seniors, noting that the district intends to keep campus closed for safety while allowing upperclass release at lunch only when a parent submits a signed waiver acknowledging liability for the student leaving campus.
Board members asked administrators to incorporate the meeting's clarifications into the handbook text before formal adoption and to put formal and informal harassment complaint procedures on a future workshop agenda for more detailed review.
The board did not vote on final adoption during the workshop; administrators were asked to make agreed clarifications and present the item at a meeting where formal approval can occur.
