A verdict was reached during Wednesday’s Carbon School Board meeting regarding the policy to ban cellphone use during school hours, with changes made based on community feedback.
The policy, Policy 534 – Student Electronic Devices, was initially scheduled for implementation after the school board’s meeting on Oct. 21. However, the board heard from many community members during the public comment portion of the meeting, who expressed concerns about the policy’s potential impact on students’ lives and their ability to communicate during school hours. By the end of that meeting, the board decided to initiate a soft rollout of the cellphone ban and bring Policy 534 back for a second reading at the November board meeting.
During his opening remarks at the November meeting, Board President Jeff Richens expressed appreciation for the community’s engagement, stating that he enjoys when the community comes to board meetings, not just for recognitions, but for their voice be heard. He explained that after the last meeting, the board had a lot to think about regarding the cellphone ban.
“I’m grateful for the district administration because they’re willing to listen, make some adjustments and accommodations,” said Richens. “But the student’s success is the number one priority.”
Superintendent Mika Salas explained that after considering the feedback from the community, students and staff, Carbon School District has decided to allow high school students to use their cellphones during lunchtime at Carbon High School (CHS), since high school is an open campus. However, middle schools will continue to enforce the cellphone ban during lunchtime due to the closed-campus policy.
“We’re really just hoping to minimize some of the negative impact,” said Salas.
Dr. Travis Engar, an emergency professional from Castleview Hospital, was in the audience and was asked to comment by the board. He explained that during the first decade of his career, it was rare to see children in the emergency room for suicidal thoughts, ideation, attempts or self-harm. However, Dr. Engar said that in the past 10 years, due to the rise of cellphones and social media, he has seen approximately a 75% increase in these cases.
“It’s been a nightmare,” said Dr. Engar. “I thank you guys from a physician perspective of having this policy. To get them away from their phones for seven hours a day will be fantastic because they are an addiction and they are bad for their mental health.”
CHS English teacher Cami Carlson shared that she has already observed positive changes since the soft rollout and is excited for the full ban to go in effect.
“I’ve noticed that students are doing art projects, they talk to each other, do puzzles,” Carlson said. “I think even more importantly than that, is it makes it more possible for me as a teacher to form connections with them.”
Jared Butler, CHS’s Physical Education teacher, echoed the same response.
“I’m so excited you guys are doing this for us, that you’re allowing this to try to help these kids. I think they will see the benefit and I’m looking forward to just getting back to, just like Cami was saying, that relationship with the kid and not having that contention.”
Anthony Cilli, Carbon High School’s Career and Technical Education, expressed his support for the policy change.
“Our students will just benefit from this. It will be a great opportunity for them, both from a mental health standpoint as well as from an accomplishment standpoint,” said Cilli. “I thank you for having the wherewithal to get ahead of this because it is happening statewide and nationwide.”
To read Policy 534, please click here.
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- Anthony Cilli
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- Cami Carlson
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- Jared Butler
