Stricter cellphone rules are coming to Seattle Public Schools

Starting next Monday, Seattle Public Schools will implement its first district-wide cellphone-use policies for students.

While many individual schools have adopted their own phone policies, Superintendent Ben Shuldiner said the district "deserves" a clear phone policy.

"Some schools have policies or procedures, some schools don't," Shuldiner said. "Some schools have procedures that are not really being followed because there is not a sense that the district has a direction."

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Speaking to the Seattle School Board Wednesday afternoon, Shuldiner laid out two sets of guidelines students will have to follow starting May 4.

Students in kindergarten through eighth grade will be expected to have their phones turned off and put away for the entire school day.

Ninth through 12th graders will have to put their phones away during class but can still use them between periods and lunch, in a "No Cell, Bell to Bell" system.

Carlos Del Valle, the assistant superintendent of technology and optimization for the district, said all schools within the district were surveyed to understand the current landscape of cellphone policies at schools across the district. Schools were asked what was working, and what wasn't. Students, families, educators, and principals were also asked for their feedback.

"The bottom line is, when phones are away during instruction, schools see better focus, fewer disruptions, and clear expectations," Del Valle said.

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But student feedback also highlighted the need for phone access during lunch, and the potential value of cellphones being used during instruction.

Many high schools in the district have open campuses for lunch, which factored into the looser cellphone rules for older students in the district, according to Shuldiner.

"To create a rule that says it has to be away for the entire school day, when in fact people leave for lunch, is gonna cause an almost unenforceable thing," Shuldiner said.

But School Board Vice President Evan Briggs wants to see the district adopt the "away for the day" policy for all grades.

"I would challenge us to take this step now," Briggs said. "Then starting in September, away for the day, [Kindergarten] through 12. That's my challenge to us."

Other board members raised questions around enforcement and discipline for students that violate the new policies.

With roughly two months left to go in the school year, Shuldiner believes the rules are a good "first step" for the district to assess and possibly rethink over the summer.