Regional News Roundup: M-D school district bans cell phones/personal electronics

Stories in this Regional News Roundup are excerpted from weekly newspapers from around the region. This is part two, with part one having appeared in Saturday’s Tribune.

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McCALL — Students’ cellphones and other personal electronic devices must be powered off and out of sight throughout the McCall-Donnelly School District under a new policy approved on Monday.

M-D trustees voted unanimously to approve the rules, which will take effect at the start of the second semester on Jan. 21. There was no testimony in favor or in opposition of the rules.

Trustees opted to delay the start of the policy until the next semester on the recommendation of school administrators so that the district can communicate the rules to students and set clear expectations.

“At the beginning of the school year, you have to provide students with due process (and say) ‘These are the rules.’ Well, we just changed the rules in the middle of the school year,” said Superintendent Tim Thomas at Monday’s meeting of the board of trustees.

Now the district needs to explain the rules; “you can’t pass a policy tonight and then say tomorrow that ‘you have to get it,’ ” Thomas said.

The district will communicate with parents, students and staff about the new rules, said Payette Lakes Middle School Principal Jake Olson, who headed the cell phone committee that worked to draft the rules and research the topic.

“We’ve begun the transition plan,” which includes drafting frequently asked questions, placing posters in the hallways of each school, sending letters to families, and other efforts to explain the change, Olson said.

Under the new rules, students will be required to keep their devices powered off and out of sight while on school campuses. Each school will decide whether students are allowed to keep devices in a backpack, bag, locker, cubby or other location.

High school students will be allowed to use their devices during their lunch period and before the school day begins.

Students can also use their phones in case of an emergency to contact help.

Some classes use laptop computers and other electronic devices provided by the district, which can still be used under the new rules.

If students violate the policy, their phone, tablet, headphones, smartwatch or other device would be confiscated by a district employee and brought to the school’s front office. A parent or guardian would need to retrieve the device for the student.

The new rules specify that parents should call the school’s front office to communicate with their student, and not expect them to be available on their personal devices.

Cellphones and other electronics are already limited in M-D classrooms, where they are only allowed with teacher approval, but there is no policy restricting phone use at recess, between classes and generally on school property.

A cellphone policy committee has been working since July to create new rules because these devices on concerns that they are a distraction and negatively affect emotional wellbeing and academic growth.

The committee presented the results of a survey at the November meeting of M-D trustees, which largely supported adopting stricter rules.

Olson noted that there was “very little” reporting of phones being a positive influence on students of the 613 parents within the district who took the survey.

About 75% of parents were concerned about student phone use.

The survey found that phone use doubled at each school, with only 25% of elementary school students using phones in school, compared to 49% at the middle school and 91% at the high school level.

In total, 596 students took the survey, including 76 elementary school students, 258 middle schoolers and 251 high schoolers.

As students get older, they believe phones offer more benefits, according to the survey.

Students reported that it was easy to ignore their phones and academics would not improve with the removal of cellphones.

Only 39% of students reported that they used phones in class for personal reasons.

Teachers and other staff who took the survey offered a less positive evaluation of phones in class, finding the effects to be “significantly negative,” Olson reported.

About 90% of elementary school staff said it was negative compared to 80% of middle school staff and 73% of high school staff.

Phones were listed as decreasing engagement and participation, and that they are mostly used for “off-task behavior.”

— Max Silverson, The Star-News (McCall), Thursday

Planning Commission releases first draft of new alternative energy code

POMEROY — The Garfield County Planning Commission released the first draft of a new alternative energy code to the public at their meeting on Dec. 4.

The commission neither approved nor disapproved of the draft, stating that they had too many questions about it still to commit to a stance. The decision to release it to the public was made to allow Garfield County citizens time to view it before the formal public comment period started. The plan can be viewed on the Garfield County website.

“We’re doing the best we can to go quickly, but I think we’re going to need more time,” Commission Chairperson Wendi Watson stated. “We want to do right by the people of Garfield County.”

The planning commissioners will have further meetings on Dec. 11 at 5:30 p.m. and on Dec. 18 at 3 p.m., both in the County Commissioners office at the Garfield County courthouse.

— Naomi Scoggin, East Washingtonian (Pomeroy), Thursday