It may take some time for Great Bend USD 428 to develop a policy that complies with the Kansas Legislature’s new ban on the use of cellphones and personal electronic devices in schools, Superintendent Khris Thexton told the school board on Monday. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly signed the bill in March and schools have until Sept. 1 to submit their updated policies, including how they plan to comply.
The bill requires Kansas public schools and accredited private schools to prohibit the use of personal electronic devices during the school day on school premises. These devices include, but are not limited to, cellphones, tablets, computers, watches, wireless headphones or earbuds, text messaging devices, and personal digital assistants.
Students’ personal devices must be turned off and securely stored during the school day.
The board will update its policies in June or July and will address the issue then.
“We will follow the law,” Thexton said. The district will be looking at what other schools do as complying could be cumbersome and/or expensive.
There are exceptions for students who have a medical reason to have their phone. The law applies to students only and board members don’t anticipate it will be popular with the kids or their parents.
“We didn’t make the rule; we’re just stuck following it,” Thexton said.
Having the phones turned off is not a problem, but making them inaccessible is more difficult. One option is buying special pouches (such as Yondr-brand bags), so students keep the phones in their possession but can’t unlock the bags in a designated phone-free space. These typically cost $25 to $30 per student initially. Other options could have create a burden on staff as they monitor, collect and store devices, then return them to students at the end of the day, Thexton said.
Current policy
The district tightened its cellphone policy before the 2023-2024 school year, banning use during class.
“We want students paying attention to what’s going on in class, not what’s going on in their phones,” Thexton said in 2023. The rule created that year stated electronic communication devices may be used during passing periods and/or during lunch at the high school but not in the classroom. The first offense is a warning and continued offenses can lead to after-school detention. The policy may include earbuds and watches if they are used for the purpose of communication.
