The Unit 5 school board on Wednesday unanimously approved updates to the district's cell phone policy, tightening restrictions, but stopping short of full ban of the devices.
The new rules require phones and devices such as smart watches, tablets and MP3 players to be put away unless a student is using it for “educational purposes” and they are granted permission from the instructor. But students can have them on their person, provided they "are not used, seen or heard during instructional time."
That wording, developed by a committee including parents, administrators and teachers, has been the subject of public comment and board debate over the past month. That discussion continued Wednesday night, with four educators asking the board to ban phones outright, and board members supporting the new policy, but asking that its effects be regularly evaluated.
"I am spending more and more time managing inappropriate school laptop, student phone and earbud use ... rather than teaching," said Jessica Stephens, a Unit 5 teacher and learning behavior specialist.
Another teacher, Kelly Herren, began teaching before smartphones. "It was a glorious time to teach," she said. "Now I teach side by side with smartphones, competing for the attention of my students and sadly, losing the competition every time."
Herren, who splits her day between Unit 5 and the Regional Alternative School, said there's a marked difference between the two because the RAS does not allow phones in classrooms.
Board members supported the policy, but said a concerted effort among teachers, administrators, board members and parents will be necessary to make it work. They also wanted to evaluate results at regular intervals.
"I think this is Phase 1 in a long process," board president Alex Williams said after the meeting, adding any policy would only be part of addressing the "root cause" of the issue.
"How can we support families to to make sure that their students know what the appropriate usage of these devices are," he said. "I think that's where the real battle lies."
He also noted not all cell phone use is bad, saying, "One of the things that guides my opinion about this subject is an acknowledgement that one size fits all will not be effective here."
So when is student cell phone appropriate?
Students with individual education plans or 504 plans that provide special accommodations may have apps purchased by the district to help with communication or learning, said superintendent Kristen Weikle. Others may need them for medical conditions or blood sugar monitoring.
More common cases might include creating video content for a class assignment. While video capture and editing can be done with a school Chromebook, a phone is going to be faster and easier, she said.
And the advanced calculators available on phones might eliminate the need for another purchase. "Why do I need go out and buy an 80 dollar, 90 dollar calculator?" Weikle said.
Still board members struggled with whether to be more restrictive.
Board member Patrick Mainieri suggested parental guidance from administration, using the information the committee learned while formulating the policy.
"It has to be an extreme team effort," he said.
Laborers contract approved
Also Wednesday, the board approved new, five-year contracts with the district’s laborers starting July 1, when the current contract expires.
The agreement with Laborers' Union 362 provides custodians a raise in starting pay from $16.78 per hour to $19.50, along with a 4% annual raise for the first three years, plus Step increases in pay grade.
Maintenance workers also will receive a 4% raise per year for the first three years. For both jobs, raises for years 4 and 5 will be tied to the district's equalized assessed valuation.
In other business, the board:
- Approved an amended budget resolution for fiscal year 2025. The budget was presented last month, and reflects higher than expected property tax revenue.
- Heard that because of sidewalk improvements, areas near Normal Community High School and Grove Elementary will no longer require busing for students who live within 1.5 miles of those schools. Communications will go out over the summer to the 10 families affected by improvements in Grove and the 130 families around NCHS. State law requires busing in areas that are designated safety hazards.
- Renamed the Normal West atrium to the Crabtree Commons, in honor of Jerry Crabtree, the school's first principal when the school opened in the 1995-96 school year.
