Desert Sands outlines RISE-based screen-time policy, says district will block open YouTube browsing on student accounts

At the Aug. 18 board meeting, Tiffany Norton, Desert Sands Unified’s chief innovation information officer, presented the district’s new approach to screen time and intentional technology use, framing it around the RISE decision-making framework and a departure from strict minute-based caps.

"Around the nation, school districts are grappling with digital overload. Tonight, I'm excited to share Desert Sand's proactive framework for intentional technology use and screen time," Norton told the board, describing national and clinical guidance that shifts the focus from clock minutes to quality, context and displacement. She cited American Academy of Pediatrics guidance and new recommendations from the Consortium on School Networking that encourage local, pedagogically centered policies.

Norton said Desert Sands will apply the district’s RISE rubric—Respect, Integrity, Support and Empathy—to evaluate digital tools before use in class. "Desert Sands is not choosing a stopwatch. We are choosing research-based pedagogical standards," she said, arguing that strict minute caps can penalize rich project-based work while allowing passive consumption.

The presentation included specific implementation steps. Norton announced district IT will block open algorithmic YouTube browsing on student accounts unless a video is explicitly assigned in Google Classroom and that the district will audit its digital inventory to focus on a core five-app software stack per content area. She also described site toolkits, coaching scripts for classroom walkthroughs and a district challenge asking each principal to identify one screen-free zone on their campus.

Board members praised the approach as preferable to rigid minute limits but pressed staff on details during a long Q&A. One trustee asked whether the screen-free-zone requirement was per school or per classroom; Norton confirmed it was a site-level (per school) challenge. Another trustee asked how the district would align minute-based expectations used by some vendors (for example, I-Ready) with a purpose-driven standard; staff said refining that alignment will be part of year-one implementation and the district is moving to a five-core-app inventory to reduce app fatigue.

Trustees and staff also described plans to enlist student leaders—student-board representatives and ASBs—to promote behavior change, including pilot activities such as phone-free lunches and schoolwide campaigns. Norton and trustees emphasized accessibility: tools that serve students with IEPs or 504 plans will not be subject to rigid time limits because assistive technologies are intended to enable participation rather than displace interaction.

The board did not take an immediate formal vote on a districtwide screen-time ordinance; Norton positioned the presentation as the policy framework and previewed a year of audits, rollouts and training to move from guidance toward consistent classroom practice.