A week before the start of the school year, Jefferson Parish School Board members and district officials were still deciding what to do about cellphones.
In order to comply with a new state law, they could ban students from bringing phones to campus or on the bus — risking the wrath of parents — or supply students with devices to lock their phones during school hours, which could cost the district hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“As long as the phones cross the threshold,” said board member Clay Moise said, “we’re the phone police.”
After much back-and-forth, they ended where they began: without a solid plan for cellphones.
It’s a debate playing out across the state. With the first day of school fast approaching, school and district leaders must quickly decide how to enforce a new state law that says students should not bring cellphones to campus but leaves the details up to local districts.
The law, which goes into effect this school year, stipulates that any phones brought to campus must be turned off and put away during instructional hours. Previous law only restricted their use during the day.
Louisiana’s new rules reflect similar measures across the country. Districts are increasingly turning to bans as evidence grows that social media is harmful to young people’s mental health. The bans are largely supported by teachers, who say that phones are a major distraction in classrooms.
The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is expected to vote in August on a requirement that each local school board pass policies related to cellphone usage, including the hours when phones are banned, whether the ban applies during activities like field trips, how parents can reach students during the day and consequences for students who violate the new rules.
In the meantime, districts have had to come up with plans without much guidance. Some, like Jefferson, aren’t changing much, arguing that their existing policy aligns with the law. Others have taken a more aggressive approach, warning students ahead of the school year of punishments and fines for violations.
Cynthia Posey, legislative and policy director for the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, said teachers have raised concerns about implementation.
“The devil is in the details,” Posey said, adding that the union’s concern is “what’s going to be required of educators” to enforce the new rules.
Slight tweaks to existing policy
The past few weeks have seen a flurry of school board discussions across the state.
At a special meeting on July 19, Lafayette Parish’s board voted to ban cellphones and other electronic devices from the moment students walk through the doors until the dismissal bell rings. Students will have to turn off and stow phones, tablets, smartwatches, headphones and other devices in their backpacks or other bags.
Board members decided to extend the ban between classes and during lunch. But they opted to allow students to use their phones on school buses after Superintendent Francis Touchet Jr. raised concerns about asking drivers to police student phones.
Board member Jeremy Hidalgo expressed doubt that the new policy, which is almost identical to the old one, would stop students from using their phones.
“We’re going to do the same thing,” he said. “We’re not going to get different results.”
Laurie Larpenteur, a mother of two and an algebra teacher at Lafayette High School, told the board the new legislation would help address a major distraction in her math class.
“They just can’t put it down,” she said about students’ phones.
Caddo Parish Public Schools approved a policy that allows students to use phones “in the event of an emergency,” but does not define what that could entail.
Caddo Schools Chief Operations Officer Patrick Greer said the policy was created to comply with state law and be consistent across the district, without requiring teachers to “aggressively” enforce the rules.
“This is going to take some rewiring,” he said, “getting everybody on the same page.”
In St. Tammany Parish, the biggest change is that students will no longer be allowed to keep phones in their pockets but must store them out of sight in a locker or a bag, said Meredith Mendez, a spokesperson for the district.
Tangipahoa Parish Public Schools took a similar approach, writing in a letter about its updated policy: “Student cellphones MUST be turned off and out of [sight] while they are at school.”
Expulsion for cellphone violation?
Other districts have taken a more aggressive approach.
East Baton Rouge Schools is extending its existing ban on cellphone use to school buses, according to a July update to its student handbook.
Madison High School and Madison Middle School, in northeast Louisiana, will supply every student with a cellphone “locker” that will only be accessible before 7:30 a.m. and after 3:15 p.m.
Students must pay a $25 fine for every violation, and phones cannot be retrieved for 24 hours after the first offense, 48 hours after the second offense and 72 hours after the third offense. Students who refuse to hand over their phones will be suspended for three days, and any students who habitually violate school policy can be sent to an alternative school, the school said in a Facebook post.
In Caldwell Parish, school board members said the previous policy which banned cellphone use during school hours, wasn't enough to discourage students from texting and using social media in class. A school official told the board that last year more cellphones were connected to the Wi-Fi network than school-issued Chromebooks during instructional time.
Under new policy. students who bring phones to school must check them in at the front office before class. After the first offense, students can choose between a $50 fine or confiscation of the device for 20 days; after the second offense the phone will be confiscated for 30 days and the student will be placed in in-school suspension with virtual learning for 10 days; after the third offense, the student will face in-school suspension with virtual learning for up to 45 days.
“If you get caught with it you’re going to pay the consequences,” a Caldwell Parish school board member said at a recent meeting. “A phone is the same thing as a BB gun, a knife or a shotgun now. We’re trying to help so the parents can still get in touch.”
A Jefferson Parish schools official said a new state law requiring students to be expelled after three suspensions would apply to cellphone violations.
“Cellphone bans, refusal to turn in a device, continuing to bring a device could ultimately result in an expulsion from school,” said Chief District Affairs Officer LaDinah Carter.
Nothing new
Still, some schools already have strict cellphone policies.
FirstLine Schools, which operates several charter schools in New Orleans, already collects phones during the day using cellphone lockers, according to Megan Chauvin, a spokesperson for the charter network.
At New Orleans Military and Maritime Academy, a charter school in Algiers, students turn over their smartwatches and phones in homeroom, where they are placed in plastic bins stored in the front office.
International School of Louisiana, which serves grades K-8 at its three New Orleans campuses, has long had an electronic-free campus. If students are found to have a phone or smartwatch on them, the device is confiscated and can only be returned to a parent or guardian. After a second offense, the device is kept for a week. If a student who rides a city bus gets an exception, the device must be turned in at the front office when they arrive at school.
This year, signs will be posted around campus reminding students the school is a “phone-free zone.”
“It needs to be about changing a mindset,” said Laura Adelman-Cannon, principal of the school’s uptown campus. “We want to help everyone understand that they can exist without looking at and engaging with a smartphone all the time.”
