Colorado school district's cellphone ban sees successes, challenges

This fall, the board for the Boulder Valley School District voted to implement a phone-free campus policy for all schools, expanding their previous policy to the high schools. The decision was met with a fair amount of pushback from parents and students at the time, but after going into effect this January, there's some positive feedback as well.

At Centaurus High School in Lafayette, the principal estimated that under the new phone-free policy, out of more than 1,500 students, about 20 phones are taken a day. If taken, the phones are then locked in clear cellphone lockers until the end of the school day.

While some parents are still frustrated with the limited communication, inside Centaurus High School, staff and students appear to be largely on board.

Principal Carolyn Carrol said the policy is long overdue. The hope is that screen time will be replaced with more face-to-face interactions.

"Oh my gosh, it's been exceptional. It has been so loud in here," Carrol said. "They are talking, they are laughing."

In response to the phone ban, schools also received a stipend for new programming to encourage social opportunities. The ping-pong table, air hockey corner and chess board now fill up at lunchtime.

"When we take something away, can we replace it with that's going to inspire connection or will support them in kind of breaking a habit that they don't realize isn't necessarily really healthy for them," Carrol said.

Social studies teacher Jeff Jackson also takes part in the new games during his free period as well.

"In this environment, it just gets them involved and they're connected. And when they feel connected, they're going to be more involved in the academic piece, too. And so, for me, that's the big benefit," Jackson said.

Carrol said the school has had fewer fights and complaints of cyberbullying in the last two months than before the phone ban.

Jackson has seen some of the social support firsthand at the ping-pong table, explaining, "I have a kid who transferred here at semester, and the first couple weeks he might come into my room just to hide, to eat lunch, but he didn't have any friends. And now he's coming down here and everybody wants to challenge him."

The school also reports that more than half of the teachers surveyed by CHS said they're seeing better focus in the classroom compared to the fall.

"I do see kids more focused in that participation piece, in our reading aspects and being able to identify and analyze a piece of work," Jackson said.

But it's still not perfect. Jackson admitted it came with some challenges at the start. The policy starting in the middle of the year has brought some confusion and frustration from parents.

BVSD parent Beth Wilberger said she understands keeping phones out of the classroom but worries the current policy may be too much too soon, explaining, "I don't think they're really enforcing it anymore. I don't know what they're really doing anymore, you know, because I think at the end of the day, it's manpower. How much manpower?"

And while the school said they are looking for parent volunteers to help staff the added open gym and pickup basketball activities during lunch, Carroll said they're making it work, and Jackson said he's policing phones in class less than before.

"We understand that parents are concerned for their children, and we have students in a building, and we are seeing the impact of social media and phones on them, and there is a marriage between those two things," Carrol said.

School officials recognize there are still some learning curves during implementation on things like enforcement as they evaluate the policy moving forward.

One of the biggest concerns parents shared is wanting their kids to be reachable in case of emergency. When CBS Colorado asked the school about those concerns, staff said kids can still have their phones in their backpacks during the day and have access to their email on school laptops, as well as utilize phones outside of the building.

Carroll also assured that teachers can still utilize phones as a teaching tool for classroom instruction. 

The school board is scheduled to continue assessing the new policy's implementation at the school board meeting on March 11.