Thursday’s board meeting will include a discussion item considering the revision of Board Policy and Administrative Regulations 5131.8, entitled Mobile Communication Devices. The current district policy will potentially be replaced by language recommended by the California School Boards Association (CSBA), as well as implementing an "Away for the Day" policy when it comes to smartphones.
To give a sense of how much technology has changed in the past decade-plus, the last update of policy and administrative regulation was in 2009, when it was entitled "Beepers, Pagers, Cellular Phones, and Other Electronic Signaling Devices." The proposed new policy adapts to the smartphone age, with updates reflecting California Assembly Bill (AB) 272, which became effective on January 1, 2020.
AB 272 authorizes boards to limit or prohibit student use of smartphones while at school or while under the supervision and control of a district employee. The bill has its exceptions, such as in an emergency, with permission of a teacher or administrator, when directed by a student’s health care provider, or when required by a student’s Individualized Education Plan or Section 504 plan.
The proposed policy reflects this, while also updating reasonable search of students’ mobile devices, employees’ authority to confiscate a device, and discipline for off-campus use of a device "which poses a threat of danger to the safety or students, staff, or district property" or "substantially disrupts school activities."
Proposed Administrative Regulations follow the "Away for the Day" initiative for grades K-8, something SMMUSD Elementary Schools Executive Director Dr. Steve Richardson said earlier this year had success in its short-lived run at John Adams Middle School.
At the beginning of a day at elementary schools, the proposed policy has students turning off mobile devices like smartphones, securing and stowing away devices in a personal carry bag or container assigned to them for the duration of the school day. In middle school, students will do the same, with bags either staying with students or stored in a classroom for a class period in a location determined by a teacher.
"[Students phones were] in a backpack turned off, it was not in [their] back pocket … they had to be put away and turned off," Richardson said during a mobile device discussion panel at Grant Elementary School in March. "That was probably our most successful year. Of course, it was 2019-20 that we did it, and then that didn’t quite get restarted so quickly [due to the COVID-19 pandemic]. But it was by far [a success], teachers were feeling that it was a more positive thing, kids were more present."
Violating the proposed policy would have the confiscation of a device for a first offense, with a parent or guardian required to retrieve the device. A student may use the school phone to inform their parent/guardian, and a teacher or a designee determined by a Principal will log a student’s first offense.
A second offense will have the same, plus have a device stowed securely in a location determined by a principal. A third offense would have the same consequences, with an option for site administration to bar a student from bringing a device to school for a set amount of time.
This year has been encompassed by school staff and community concerns about student use of smartphones, including communication by the group Santa Monica Parents for Slow Tech. The district sent a survey to 687 Samohi teachers and students as part of outreach, as well as focus groups with parents, principals and teachers. Samohi teachers observed that collecting cell phones in class would increase student focus and engagement, among other benefits.
After Thursday’s discussion, the board will return for action on the Board Policy on November 21, and will return for an information item on the Administrative Regulations at the same meeting.
thomas@smdp.com
