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Eastpointe board weighs how to implement new state cell-phone rules, asks administration to price storage options and survey community
Summary
Trustees reviewed two sample policies produced to comply with recent bipartisan state bills that ask districts to keep personal digital devices away from students during instructional time. They asked administration to price phone-storage solutions, post law text, and survey students, staff and families before returning a recommended interim policy.
Board members at the March 23 Eastpointe Community Schools meeting discussed how the district should implement recently passed state measures asking school districts to limit student access to cell phones and other wireless devices during instructional time.
Superintendent Gibson summarized the context for the board: the state bills require districts to set boundaries around student device use but, as she told trustees, "this is an unfunded law at this time." She said administration had prepared two sample policy drafts for the board to consider and asked for direction on next steps rather than adoption tonight.
Trustees focused on several practical questions: how to define "instructional time" (bell-to-bell vs. class-by-class), what exceptions to allow for medical needs and emergency contact, and who would be responsible for collecting and storing phones. Board members discussed classroom pouches that lock, centralized storage in offices, and the administrative and staff workload of implementing those systems. Several trustees emphasized that a workable policy must have buy-in from parents, students and staff.
Administration recorded three clear follow-ups for the board: price out phone-storage solutions, post the law and sample policy language and run surveys to solicit views from students, staff and families (with initial focus on the high school campus). "Whatever the board decides, consistency will be key," Superintendent Gibson said as she summarized the discussion and the recommended next steps.
Community members who spoke during the public-comment period reinforced these themes. Jennifer Nicholas, an Eastpointe resident, suggested running short pilot periods—"Maybe a week or two weeks where students could not have cell phones at all during the day"—to collect real-world data before a permanent rule is adopted.
The board did not vote on a policy at the meeting. Trustees directed administration to return with cost estimates, survey results and recommended interim language at a later meeting so the board can consider a policy to be in place before the start of the 2026–27 school year.
