If students at Mansfield ISD break a new cell phone policy this year, it will cost them.
Violators will have their phones confiscated, and their parents or guardians will have to pay $15 to get them back, according to a district news release.
The new rule is intended to limit student use of personal electronic communication devices to specific times to limit distractions and classroom disruptions. It applies to phones, smartwatches, and tablets.
“As a board, we believe the new guidelines will limit distractions and disruptions to the learning process, which can frequently be caused by cell phone usage,” Mansfield ISD Board President Courtney Lackey Wilson said in the news release. “We want to empower our employees by outlining clear consequences for infractions.”
Mansfield ISD created different rules based on the classification of students served by each campus.
For example, elementary school students and sixth graders cannot use phones during the school day. Middle school students can use them during passing periods and at lunch. High school students can use them any time outside of class, depending on approval from the campus principal.
“Campus administrators will state expectations clearly and reinforce the importance of maintaining a cell phone-free environment at the beginning of the year,” the policy states. “Administrators will monitor cell phone violations. A student must have approval to possess other telecommunications devices such as netbooks, laptops, tablets, or other portable computers.”
If a student is caught breaking the rules, a teacher will ask only once for it to be turned over. The guidelines say that failure to do so will result in a disciplinary referral to campus administration.
“Authorized district employees who will be responsible for cell phone confiscation will include administrators and teachers (including substitutes or someone else covering the class),” the guidelines say.
Mansfield ISD is not the only North Texas school system to implement such a policy. As previously reported by The Dallas Express, multiple local districts are experimenting with such restrictions, along with other jurisdictions around the state and country, to boost student learning outcomes.
However, not everyone is in full agreement on the policy.
“You still have the parents that want to have that direct line of communication and have concerns over their child not being able to have that communication,” said Liz Keren-Kolb, clinical associate professor of education technologies at the University of Michigan, AP News reported.
During the 2021-2022 school year, only 55% of Mansfield ISD students scored at grade level on their STAAR exams. However, 94.9% of the district’s graduating Class of 2022 earned a diploma in four years, a much higher share than the 81.1% who graduated on time at Dallas ISD. For its part, only 41% of students scored at grade level on their STAAR exams that year.
