To gain staff buy-in and feedback, committee members presented the plan during faculty meetings and within their departments, prompting further discussion and refinement. These members became leaders on this initiative. Ultimately, staff members agreed that personal student technology must be removed during bell-to-bell instruction.
Students have the option to store personal devices in a designated area in the classroom or keep them in their book bags. The team felt it provided a balance of respect for personal belongings. In addition, students are not permitted to utilize their personal devices while in the hallway during the instructional period. To transition this plan, students were permitted to use their personal devices before homeroom, between periods, during lunch, and in Open Campus.
The success of the new technology procedures required buy-in from staff, central administration, the school board, students and families. The procedures were presented during a school board meeting prior to the start of the school year and received a tremendous amount of support from the members. Their backing assisted with the adoption of the new procedures.
Students and families received communications regarding the procedures throughout the summer and throughout the first months of school. Each classroom has a posting of the technological procedures. Communication was reiterated on the school TV news and weekly newsletter. The response from stakeholders, particularly the staff and parents, has been overwhelmingly positive.
Throughout the school year, the administration has shared weekly updates with staff, documenting the number of technology policy violations, many of which result in a form of detention. To date, with nearly 2,100 students at the high school, the building has averaged fewer than 11 referrals per day, which reflects about 0.5% of the student population. Teachers have found that the new policy has supported student collaboration and communication during class.
Katelyn Fetzer, a science teacher and National Honor Society adviser, said: “Students are more focused in class and are getting more work done during the class period because the distraction of cellphones have been taken away. I feel like they are understanding notes better and faster since the distraction is gone.”
English language arts teacher Trina Schaarschmidt said: “I haven’t seen nary a cellphone all year. I give credit to our administration team for including teaching staff in the discussion beforehand and for empowering teachers with unadulterated support for enforcing the rule. Our principal said that he would hold lunch detentions in the auditorium if that was needed to house the volume of initial cellphone referrals. As a teacher, that made me feel so supported.
“I know that staff are now wondering what other learning distractions we can tackle based on this model. I think teachers didn’t quite believe we could get it done, but with the full support of the administration, we were successful. Other key factors included clear and consistent communication with homes and the fact that students can still have them in their possession helped mitigate pushback from both students and parents.”
Social studies teacher Brian Burychka has observed improved social interaction, saying: “The new cell phone/electronic device procedure has been a great step forward. I have noticed that students are now communicating with each other much more in the hallways and classrooms.”
Health and physical education teacher Karen Kooker agrees, “Since the cellphone procedure was established, students have been engaged in conversations instead of isolating themselves by looking at their phones.”
Reading support teacher Staci Elggren stated: “The new cellphone procedure has made a significant impact in a positive way, and I have only been here a year. I started at the end of last year, and it was so difficult to keep students off their phones. Now I can get my students to interact with each other and engage in their learning and keep them focused during class.”
As high school administrators prepare for the next school year, they are focused on other continuous improvement areas including furthering enhancement in technology, increasing student performance, improving student safety and providing additional support for struggling learners.
Principal Sparks and the faculty and administration, staff and students are to be commended for designing and implementing these new procedures based on personal technology devices, as these procedures come with all the modern-day challenges. The new technological procedures have resulted in observed positive learning/social experiences for students in our high school classroom settings.
This article was originally posted to the Reading Eagle: https://www.readingeagle.com/2025/03/27/superintendents-forum-refocus-on-student-engagement-and-performance/
