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Atchison task force recommends strict "inaccessible" device standard; debate over backpacks, lunches and exemptions
Summary
A district task force presented a proposed interpretation of House Bill 2299 requiring student devices be kept "inaccessible" during the school day. The draft includes a sliding scale of options (allow backpacks, limit locker access, or ban devices on campus), a medical-exemption packet and an August 27 review after two weeks of implementation.
A task force convened by Atchison Public Schools presented a proposed approach to complying with House Bill 2299 that would require student personal devices to be "inaccessible" from bell to bell, and asked the board for guidance on how strictly to implement that standard.
"There is an exemption process," the presenter said, summarizing a packet families would take to a licensed provider to document medical need. The packet has been trialed with a family and will be updated before it is published to all families. Task-force materials also included classroom stickers and guidance for staff messaging through the district's vendor.
Teachers and task-force members emphasized logistics: where phones and backpacks will be stored, how students can access needed items during the day, and who will distribute lunches or emergency supplies. "Student devices may not be seen, heard, or accessed for any reason during the school day," a high-school teacher on the task force said while describing classroom expectations and limited allowances for calls during designated transition minutes.
The group proposed a sliding scale of options from (a) allowing backpacks in class with phones locked away, to (e) banning devices from school buildings entirely. Several board members urged starting on the more restrictive side with a planned re-check: the task force will reconvene August 27, two weeks into the school year, to review "frustration points" and make adjustments.
Students and parents urged the board to address dignity and practical access. One student said parents and students want the policy to reduce distraction but not to "strip privacy or make it harder to learn." Public commenters raised sanitation concerns about storing multiple lunches in shared totes and stressed that feminine-hygiene products must remain private and accessible.
District staff told the board they had not ordered storage equipment pending tonight's guidance and noted the law constrains staff-student two-way messaging. Trainings for staff and coaches were described as part of the rollout, and communications will be managed through the district's approved system to ensure records of messages.
