Hall Pass: Your Ticket to Understanding School Board Politics, Edition #122

By

Ballotpedia staff

Welcome to Hall Pass, a newsletter written to keep you plugged into the conversations driving school board politics and governance.

In today’s edition, you’ll find:

  • On the issues: The debate over cellphones in schools 
  • School board filing deadlines, election results, and recall certifications
  • Eight states have implemented statewide policies on K-12 school cellphone usage 
  • Extracurricular: education news and numbers from around the web
  • Candidate Connection survey
  • School board candidates per seat up for election

Reply to this email to share reactions or story ideas!

On the issues: The debate over cellphones in schools

In this section, we curate reporting, analysis, and commentary on the issues school board members deliberate when they set out to offer the best education possible in their district. Missed an issue? Click here to see the previous education debates we’ve covered.

Should schools ban cellphones?

Liz Kolb writes cellphone bans hurt poor and underprivileged groups of students—especially those who don’t have desktop computers. Kolb says teachers should help students use phones as an educational tool. She also says disciplinary issues rise following cellphone bans and that some parents prefer their children to have cellphone access in case of emergencies.

John Thompson writes that cellphones contribute to disengagement, academic underperformance, mental health problems, and bullying. Thompson says poorer and underserved students benefit most when schools ban cellphones. He also says digital literacy can be effectively taught in schools that ban phones. 

Is It Time to Ban Cell Phones in Schools? | Oklahoma Education Journal

Liz Kolb, Clinical Professor of Teacher Education and Learning Technologies at the University of Michigan

“The most accessible digital device for historically marginalized youth and their families is a cell phone. Allowing cell phones in school is the equitable and just thing to do for students of color, students from lower-income families, and students with exceptionalities. … When schools ban cell phones, it is harder for teachers to prepare students from less affluent families to use their phones as learning and productivity tools. … School disciplinary incidents also tend to rise when cell phones are banned. Even more concerning is the students who receive the most disciplinary infractions in such cases are less affluent students. … For parents, cell phones can give them peace of mind when it comes to safety, and safety is something that should not be dismissed or taken lightly In an era of rising school shootings.”

John Thompson, historian and retired Oklahoma City Public Schools teacher

“Removing students’ cell phones from schools is long overdue. As a 20-year classroom teacher, I can attest that the problems associated with cell phone use are far more significant than the public realizes. Students simply cannot function at optimal levels when they are constantly distracted by their phones. But don’t take my word for it. Researchers continue to find that cell phone use is damaging the mental and physical health of young people; producing distractions and disorder in schools; contributing to bullying and glorification of violence; undermining school cultures; ‘exhausting’ teachers; and reducing academic performance. Research has further demonstrated that it is low-achieving and low-income students who benefit most when cell phones are removed from classrooms. [W]e can still cultivate digital ethics and literacy with cell phone bans in place as many schools already do. We stand a better chance of fostering digital literacy without all of the distractions from cell phones in our classrooms.”

School board update: filing deadlines, election results, and recall certifications

This year, Ballotpedia will cover elections for over 11,000 school board seats across more than 30 states. We’re expanding our coverage each year with our eye on the country’s more 80,000 school board seats.  

Election results from the past week

Minnesota

Ballotpedia covered the nonpartisan primary for an at-large seat on the Minneapolis Board of Education on Aug. 13 in Minnesota. Incumbent Kim Ellison and Shayla Owodunni advanced to the Nov. 5 general election. Ellison received 56.7% of the vote, while Owodunni received 26.6%. Elena Condos lost in the primary with 16.7%.

Ellison was first elected in 2012. Owodunni completed Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey. Click here to read her responses.

Minneapolis Public Schools is the third-largest in Minnesota, with an estimated enrollment of around 29,000 students. 

Upcoming school board elections

Florida

Voters in the Sunshine State will go to the polls on Aug. 20 to elect candidates to their local school boards. Ballotpedia is covering elections in the 25 largest districts, including:

In Florida, each county constitutes a school district. School board elections take place every two years in even-numbered years. Candidates can win outright in the primary with a simple majority of the vote. If no candidate gets a majority, the two candidates with the most votes advance to a general election on Nov. 5.

In the July 31 edition of this newsletter, we looked at the dueling school board endorsements Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and the Florida Democratic Party (FDP) issued in these upcoming elections. 

On Nov. 5, voters in Florida will also decide a measure that would implement partisan school board elections. We’ve covered debates around Amendment 1 in previous issues.  

Oklahoma

Ballotpedia will cover a special general election runoff in Oklahoma on Aug. 27 for a seat on the Sequoyah Public Schools school board. Greg Perry and Lyndsey Young are running in the election. Perry and Young ran in the April 2 special general election, but a lawsuit over voting irregularities resulted in a new election date. Preliminary vote tallies showed Perry with 225 votes to Young’s 222.

After reviewing the voter registries, Young challenged the results, which revealed 10 irregular votes due to a mixture of out-of-district voters and one person voting twice.  

On April 11, District Court Judge Lara Russell upheld Young’s challenge. Election officials sent a letter to Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) the following day requesting a new election be held on Aug. 27.

In her order, Russell cited a 1991 Oklahoma Supreme Court case, Jackson v. Maley, which established that a court may order a redo election if the number of irregular votes is larger than the margin of victory. Click here to read about noteworthy redo elections. 

Sequoyah Public Schools is located northeast of Tulsa and has an estimated student population of 1,300 students. 

Eight states have implemented statewide policies on K-12 school cellphone usage 

As students prepare for another school year, a national conversation is playing out over how K-12 schools should regulate student cellphone usage. Some district leaders, educators, and lawmakers have raised concerns that cellphones may negatively affect student learning and mental wellbeing, and have moved to limit—or in some cases ban—student cellphone use during the school day. Opponents of banning cellphones in schools have said educators should proceed more cautiously and focus on teaching students how to use technology responsibly. 

Some of the largest districts in the country have recently restricted or limited student cellphone usage, including the Los Angeles Unified School District. In some states, lawmakers have backed legislation banning or limiting student cellphone usage in public schools, arguing the decision is too urgent to be left to individual districts. 

Here’s what to know about recent state- and district-level school cellphone policies. 

Districts usually set cellphone policies or leave decisions to individual schools. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), around 76% of schools said they banned the non-academic use of cellphones or smartphones during school hours in the 2021-22 school year, down from 91% in 2010. In many high schools, students may use cellphones at designated times during the school day, such as lunch. 

Since 2023, eight states have adopted policies that limit or ban cellphones in classrooms or schools—or encourage districts to move in that direction. Florida was the first state to enact a law banning student cellphone use during class time. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed House Bill 379 on May 9, 2023, saying: “Being normal kids, like kids were prior to social media, is important. The social media [causes] more problems than it solves, and I think it causes more harm than good. So, let’s have our education system be as much about traditional education as we can.”

Here’s what is happening in the other seven states, listed in the order in which they enacted their policies:

  • Alabama (Republican trifecta): On Feb. 11, 2024, the Alabama State Board of Education unanimously approved a resolution calling on districts to implement “a policy limiting the use of cellular telephones and or other electronic communication devices while on school property.”
  • Indiana (Republican trifecta): On March 11, 2024, Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) signed SB 185, which directs schools and charter schools to adopt a policy that “prohibits a student from using a wireless communication device during instructional time…” The law allows for exceptions, such as when a teacher authorizes students to use cellphones for educational purposes. 
  • Minnesota (Democratic trifecta): On May 17, Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed SF 3567. The law requires districts and charter schools to adopt a policy on cellphones by March 15, 2025. The law does not specify what those policies should look like, but it does direct the Minnesota Elementary School Principals Association and the Minnesota Association of Secondary School Principals to work to “minimize the impact of cell phones on student behavior, mental health, and academic attainment.” 
  • Ohio (Republican trifecta): On May 20, 2024, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed HB 250. The law states that “each school district board of education shall adopt a policy governing the use of cellular telephones by students during school hours. The policy shall do all of the following: (1) Emphasize that student cellular telephone use be as limited as possible during school hours; (2) Reduce cellular telephone-related distractions in classroom settings…”
  • Louisiana (Republican trifecta): On May 28, 2024, Gov. Jeff Landry (R) signed SB 207: “Effective beginning with the 2024-2025 school year and thereafter, no student shall possess, on his person, an electronic telecommunication device throughout the instructional day.”
  • South Carolina (Republican trifecta): Lawmakers included a provision in the 2024-25 state budget requiring schools to ban students from using cellphones during the day to receive funding: “To receive state funds allocated for State Aid to Classrooms, a school district shall implement a policy adopted by the State Board of Education that prohibits access to personal electronic communication devices by students during the school day.”
  • Virginia (divided government): On July 9, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) issued Executive Order 33, requiring districts to establish a definition of “cell phone-free education.” According to the Order, “The definition should address the age-appropriateness of all actions including the elimination or severe restriction of the use of cell phones and smart phones during instructional time…”

Additionally, lawmakers in Oklahoma, Vermont, and Kansas introduced legislation this year to ban or restrict cellphone use in schools. Those bills died at different points in the legislative process. 

Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Arkansas have announced pilot programs this year to provide funding for some districts to experiment with cellphone-free school days. In Delaware, for example, Gov. John Carney (D) signed a law allocating $250,000 to a handful of districts this fall for purchasing pouches for storing cellphones. These pouches, such as the ones made by YONDR, use a magnetic locking mechanism to keep students from accessing their phones. At the end of the school day, the school provides a proprietary device for unlocking the pouches. On July 2, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) announced a similar pilot, saying, “To help address these issues, this pilot grant program will provide pouches for students to safely store their phones during the school day, creating a better learning environment and inviting in-person socialization.”

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) board voted to ban cellphones in schools—the New York City Department of Education, the nation’s largest district, could be next. On June 18, 2024, the LAUSD board voted 5-2 to prohibit students from accessing cellphones during the whole school day. The LAUSD is the second-largest district in the country, with over half a million students. The nation’s largest district, the New York City Department of Education, is considering a ban on student cellphone use that could begin in February. 

Although some states are moving to prohibit student cellphone use in schools, a recent survey finds that parents do not necessarily agree. In February, the National Parents Union polled 1,506 parents of kids in kindergarten through 12th grade and found that 56% said “students should sometimes be allowed to use their cell phones” during the school day, while 32% said “students should be banned from using their cell phones, unless they have a medical condition or disability for which they need to use a cell phone.” Most parents said they wanted their kids to take their cellphone to school so they could contact them in an emergency or as needed.

Click here to read more about state public school cellphone policies. 

Listen to tomorrow’s episode of On the Ballot, Ballotpedia’s weekly podcast, where Ballotpedia Podcast Producer Frank Festa interviews Chalkbeat New York Bureau Chief Amy Zimmer and yours truly on the cellphone ban landscape on a national level and in New York City. Subscribe today wherever you listen to podcasts to get the episode when it releases.

Extracurricular: education news from around the web

This section contains links to recent education-related articles from around the internet. If you know of a story we should be reading, reply to this email to share it with us! 

Take our Candidate Connection survey to reach voters in your district

Today, we’re looking at survey responses from Lorena Biassotti and Kamilah Bywaters, who are running in the Nov. 5 general election for Clark County School District Board of Trustees District E in Nevada. 

Biassotti and Bywaters advanced from the June 11 primary in which they defeated seven other candidates. Bywaters received 21.3% of the vote, while Biassotti received 19.9%. 

Clark County is the largest district in the state, with an estimated enrollment of around 310,000 students.

Here’s how Biassotti’s answered the question, “What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?”

  • “My only interest is to see every child succeed.
  • If we can fix our education, we can fix our country.
  • Parents have the Constitutional right to direct the education of their children.”

Click here to read the rest of Biassotti’s answers. 

Here’s how Bywaters answered the question, “What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?”

“I am passionate about creating equitable access to high-quality education for all students, regardless of their income or background. This includes advocating for funding that supports under-resourced schools, diverse and inclusive curriculums, and initiatives that close achievement gaps. Every student should have access to high-quality resources.”

Click here to read the rest of Bywaters’ answers. 
If you’re a school board candidate or incumbent, click here to take the survey. If you’re not running for school board, but there is an election in your community this year, share the link with the candidates and urge them to take the survey!