School reconsiders cell phone, dress policies

Cell phones and how to handle them are a point of major discussion among school superintendents in Okanogan County, Rod Broadnax, superintendent at Grand Coulee Dam School District, told the school board June 10.

“That has been a big, big topic,” he said.

The local school board already banned cell phone use during school two years ago, but enforcement has been slipping later in the year.

English teacher Steve Files presented his research on some options to address the situation.

Files said he’s been following the issue for years.

“At least in my classes, I’ve seen a significant improvement — big time,” since the board’s ban took effect, he said. But “slippage” in enforcement near the end of the year seems to occur as students “see what they can get away with.”

Files showed the board a product from a company that sells pouches that lock around a student’s phone. The student still carries it, but can’t use it until its unlocked at the end of the day.

Files said the approach “eases separation anxiety from having their phones seized” and noted he’s seen reactions to that which look very much like addiction.

The Yondr pouches cost $25-$30 each, he said.

The board was also asked to reconsider a dress code adjusted last year after a presentation from several girls who noted most of them would not pass the old one as they stood before the board in modest clothing.

But wording in current policy as expressed in the student handbook leaves too much latitude for interpretation by young minds set on testing boundaries. Pam Johnson presented photocopies of some of the more alarming problems seen over the last school year on both girls and boys.

The board is looking at both policies for future changes.

In other business, the board:

• approved the purchase of a replacement 56-passenger school bus with a backup camera for up to $183,000 for the 2024-25 school year,

• voted to buy a new reading curriculum for kindergarten through fifth grades at a cost of $91,545, almost half of which is for workbooks that the district may opt not to purchase after the first year if preferred by teachers,

• OK’d an educational trip to Washington, D.C. and New York city next year at no cost to the district. The trip, which has become something of a tradition over the last 30 years, teacher Christy Portch said, is open to students in grades 6-8 and to others, and is funded by their parents, about as many of whom went along last year. It’s organized through School Tours America and costs about $3,100, and

• changed the date of the next board meeting from June 24 to Wednesday, June 26 at 5:30 p.m.