The Rancho Santa Fe School District board is taking steps to ban all student cell phones and smartwatches on the R. Roger Rowe School campus.

At the Oct. 29 meeting, the board directed Superintendent Kim Pinkerton to bring back a draft policy banning cell phones for their approval. The board was unanimously aligned in its direction, with Vice President Rose Rohatgi not present.

“They’ve got to go away, I don’t care how we do it,” said Trustee Paul Seitz. “It’s simple. Get rid of them.”

At the meeting, Pinkerton brought forward four cell phone policy options for the board to consider including the banned model, the “silenced and away all day” model that is currently in action, creating cell phone “hotels” where students must store their phones during the school day and lastly, the use of locked pouches where phones are locked away and only unlocked using a large magnet at the end of the school day.

The goal of revising the districts cell phone policy is to enhance the educational environment and student focus during instructional time, Pinkerton said.

The misuse of cell phones has been a problem on campus for the last several years, an impediment to learning and social-emotional growth. Students are often on their phones during breaks and there have been shared anecdotes of students taking unsolicited photos of other kids in the bathroom, and of students and parents texting each other throughout the day. One third grader said her classmates told her they need private time during recess to sit down and interact with their watches.

While the board opted not to survey parents about the proposed ban several parents spoke out in favor of it during public comment.

“I think it’s time for our school board to act and act quickly in a strong way to get devices out of kids’ hands during the entire school day,” said parent Dan Comstock.

Aside from being a distraction in the classroom, parents talked about the impacts on brain development, cyberbullying, the troubling links to anxiety and depression, and the effect phones have on social and communication skills.

“Once the kids get older in middle school it really creates a barrier in them communicating and having shared experiences because all the kids with cell phones in between classes are on them and they’re not actually interacting with one another,” said parent Shannon Sperlinga.

“I don’t think (a ban) is that radical a request, there’s public schools and private schools across the country who have implemented this,” said parent Sara Bennett. “It’s time for us to get on board.”

In the past, Bennett was part of a group that advocated for school parents to participate in the Wait Until 8th pledge, which encourages parents to delay giving children a smartphone until at least eighth grade. According to Wait Until 8th, the average American child receives their first smartphone at age 10 and the smartphone pressure starts to ramp up in fourth grade. The majority of U.S. kids have a smartphone by age 14 and Common Sense Media found that 97% of students use their phones during the school day for a median of 43 minutes.

Currently, the board’s policy on “Electronic Signaling Devices” prohibits phones being out during all instructional activities and school-sponsored activities.

Per Assembly Bill 3216, signed into law in September, every school is required to have a policy limiting or prohibiting the use of smartphones while students are at school—the policy must be updated every five years. The law is not new but builds on a previous law passed in 2019 that gave schools the authority to regulate smartphones during school hours.

In a letter to California school districts, Governor Gavin Newsom urged every district to act to restrict smartphone use this school year: “The evidence is clear: reducing phone use in class leads to improved concentration, better academic outcomes, and enhanced social interactions, he wrote.

“Every classroom should be a place of focus, learning, and growth,” Newsom continued. “Working together, educators, administrators, and parents can create an environment where students are fully engaged in their education, free from the distractions on the phones and pressures of social media.”

Current education code states that a pupil shall not be prohibited from possessing or using a smartphone in the case of an emergency or in response to a perceived threat of danger. Ed code also allows students exemptions for medical reasons or if the use of a smartphone is included in their individualized education program (IEP).

This was not the first time that the board had revisited its existing cell phone policy. In 2021, the school board previously considered a partnership with Yondr, a company that produces neoprene pouches that keep student phones locked up all day in their bags. A contract with Yondr was brought forward by the former superintendent Donna Tripi and at the time the board took no action.

Yondrs product was included as one of the four policy options this year. The pouch is $30 per student, which with the school’s current enrollment of 506 students would cost $15,180.

“I don’t like the pouches,” Trustee Jee Manghani said, envisioning locked-up phones buzzing all day with notifications, causing further distractions and anxiety.

Pinkerton said there are challenges with all of the policy options. Most of the board agreed the ban will not be popular with the students, who will most likely try to find ways to get around it. Pinkerton additionally noted that the banned model may not be popular for children who walk or bike to school or have after-school activities that might require being in contact with their parents or guardians.

With the cell phone hotel option, Pinkerton said there are concerns about theft, liability and the logistics as students move between different classrooms throughout the day.

The “silenced and away all day” model is the school’s current model and the board said there are issues with compliance and consequences. Enforcement is not consistent, Manghani said, as disciplining students can be disruptive for teachers and takes away from instructional minutes. Principal Lindsey Conley said under the current policy, cell phones are being confiscated and sent to the office but there is a process for teachers to follow which sometimes they might opt to forgo in the interest of continuing on with a lesson.

The new smartphone and smartwatch policy is expected to be reviewed at the board’s next meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at 4 p.m. Following approval, the district would communicate with parents about the new policy and consequences, and set a start date for the ban.