Stevenson-Carson staff describe classroom disruption as board begins first reading of cell-phone policy

At a June 11 meeting the board began a first reading of Policy 3245, the district’s proposed student telecommunication devices policy, after staff described widespread classroom disruption and social-media harms attributable to student phones.

Joe Hantho, a staff member who speaks from classroom experience, described repeated disruptions and enforcement challenges and said students sometimes resist losing devices: "kids ask him why they need to learn anything if AI can do everything for them," he said. Hantho described students using burner phones and coordinating vaping in bathrooms by text, which staff say complicates maintaining a safe learning environment. Tracy Holzhauer, also a staff member involved in student support, said staff have seen Instagram accounts "trashing students, staff, and the school," and reported instances of students becoming dysregulated while using phones during school hours.

Board discussion covered enforcement details. Superintendent Ingrid Colvard said first offenses may permit students to reclaim devices themselves while repeat offenses could require parent/guardian retrieval; the written procedure will set the process and address exceptions. The board discussed accommodations for students with IEPs and possible district-provided alternatives (noise-cancelling headphones or MP3 players) if teams determine those are needed. Jeff Wickersham asked Limiting searches and aligning return procedures; he requested narrowing item 5 so searches occur only on a limited basis and adjusting item 4 to match the procedure for returning confiscated phones.

Colvard said the district plans to finalize the procedure over the summer and implement it at the start of the school year for a consistent rollout. The board approved the 1st reading of Policy 3245 during the action item portion of the meeting.