During the Denver Public Schools Board of Education work session today, the board adjusted their cell phone policy language to prohibit student use of “personal communication devices during the instructional school day while in school buildings,” with devices out of sight and turned off. They made other adjustments and revised policy should be available soon, but the board signaled their commitment to a phone-free-school day for students. Stand for Children Executive Director, Krista Spurgin issued the following statement:
“DPS led one of the most collaborative, thoughtful processes we have seen to develop their cell phone policy for students. They are on track to adopt a policy that gives students a school day free from the nonstop distraction phones are designed to create. That matters for their mental health, their friendships, and their ability to learn. This is what teachers and the community asked for and the DPS board is on track to deliver.”
The DPS board created the Communication Devices Advisory Committee, a group of parentes, educators, and others who spent months developing a clear, research-aligned recommendation: a districtwide bell-to-bell policy keeping phones away for the entire school day. The district also surveyed the community about cell phone use in schools and found strong support for away-all-day policies. 76% of educators and 64% of the broader community support a bell-to-bell phone policy.
