DE PERE (NBC 26) — School districts across northeast Wisconsin take different approaches to smartphones in schools. The Unified School District of De Pere may implement a policy in the fall that its superintendent sees as a "middle ground" on cell phones.
- A survey among De Pere High School parents, students, and teachers shows a consensus opinion that cell phones in classrooms are a problem.
- A policy proposed at Monday's school board meeting, to potentially be implemented for the 2025-26 school year, would require high school students to turn in their phones at the beginning of each class period.
- The policy could be approved by the board as soon as early February.
- Video shows perspectives of students, a teacher, and administrators on the issue.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story, with light editing and additional details added for web)
If you're a De Pere High School student with a cell phone, a new policy proposed for next school year would still allow you to have it here in the hallways, but as soon as you enter a classroom, it would have to be put into a storage bin.
"I feel like I do better in my classes where they take our phones," junior Cruz Slawinski said.
Most De Pere Redbirds agree, that phones in class could be an issue.
"There's something wrong with it, but I think that it can be fixed," sophomore Jack Collard said.
A school district surveyof 1,022 DPHS students found that 44.5% of high school students think their classmates use cell phones during class when not supposed to.
"It's fine if they're using it for, like, music or something to help them focus," sophomore Madisyn Staudinger said, "but there's definitely distractions where kids aren't doing the work with phones. But I feel like it's not that big of a problem."
Parents and teachers feel even more strongly — 60.8% of De Pere High parents and 89.6% of staff members surveyed agree phones in classrooms are a "moderate" or "major" problem.
"Everybody that I've talked to really want this," special education aide Mary Anne Kohlman said. "They just don't want to be responsible for the cell phones, and they want — they really just want to teach."
A proposal discussed at this week's school board meeting would require kids to turn their phones into a box or bin — known as a cell phone "hotel" — to start every class.
One concern about that is emergency situations.
"Sometimes [parents are] not getting direct answers from their kid," sophomore Natalie Bohn said, "and then they're gonna have to call the school — it's just kind of like a big hassle."
But principal Roger Allen and the district say exceptions will be possible.
"If they need it for a medical reason, for parents to be comfortable with that, students to be comfortable with that — we will always work with students," Allen said.
The idea would be a middle ground between policies at districts like Green Bay, which only requires phones to be on silent or off, and one like Menominee, Michigan, where middle schoolers can't use their phones at all.
De Pere superintendent Christopher Thompson says the district is ready for it.
"So far, I'm feeling very strong about this," he said. "I actually think the policy already is a middle ground policy, because 41% of our teachers are already doing something in their classroom when it comes to having a place for phones," Thompson said.
The superintendent says the proposal has widespread support and expects it to be approved at one of two February school board meetings.
