Benton Harbor board adopts districtwide cell-phone ban, sets Jan. 6, 2025 rollout

The Benton Harbor Area Schools Board of Education voted Oct. 8 to adopt a revised student personal-communication-device policy that requires students to keep personal cell phones out of sight during the school day, with narrow exceptions for medical devices, preapproved instructional uses and extracurricular-activity communications.

Superintendent Dr. Kelvin Buzz told trustees his recommendation "would be for the students to have to keep the cell phones stored away during the entire school day," saying phones had become a classroom and cafeteria disruption. Principals from elementary and high schools said they also favored limiting phone use on campus, citing safety and privacy concerns. "It's my recommendation that they don't have them out as well," Principal Morin said.

Board discussion focused on enforcement and rollout. Trustees asked how the policy would be operationalized, whether staff could confiscate devices, and how parents would be notified. Dr. Buzz said the administration will develop administrative guidelines and a communication plan and proposed a trial period, with an "effective date" for the districtwide ban of Jan. 6, 2025. He said: "there will be a transition period ... turned into administration; parents would have to come and pick the phone up." Vice President Bowen sought assurances about handling emergencies; administrators said school office phones and staff remain available for urgent parent contact.

The policy as adopted keeps a limited confiscation provision for instances involving potential illegal activity, which administration said would be handled by law enforcement when appropriate. The board also agreed that staff should not routinely seize devices, and that parents should be the party to retrieve phones except in extraordinary, law-enforcement situations.

Trustees voted to adopt staff report S1, which included Policy 5136 and several other Neola policy updates, and recorded the effective rollout date in the motion. Secretary Triplet called the roll; the vote was unanimous in favor.

The board directed the superintendent and policy committee to finalize administrative guidelines and update the student code of conduct and handbooks before the effective date. Dr. Buzz told the board he would use the intervening weeks to draft the guidance and said: "this will be our trial phase" before full implementation.

The board also noted limited instructional exceptions, allowing teachers to use phones in class when preapproved in a lesson plan. The policy includes explicit exceptions for health needs (for example, monitoring devices) and for after-school communications tied to extracurricular activities.

The board said it will return to administrative details in committee and had the motion record that the policy would become operational districtwide on Jan. 6, 2025.