A draft of an updated policy on students’ use of cell phones on campus was presented to the Katy ISD school board at Monday night’s meeting at the Education Support Complex, 6301 S. Stadium Lane in Katy. The draft of the new policy – which is still in development – would ban students’ use of their personal devices such as cell phones during the classroom instructional periods. The proposed change does not change policy at elementary campuses, which already have a “no cell phone use” policy in place, but does affect secondary campuses, which have been operating under a “bring your own device” policy for the last several years, according to district officials. However, with the roll-out of the district’s new “1:1 Chromebook” initiative in the 2024-2025 school year, students will no longer need access to their own devices during classroom time, officials said.

According to the policy draft, students must turn off and put away their cell phones during each classroom period. Cell phone usage may be permitted outside the classroom in accordance with current campus guidelines, which may vary from school to school. The draft continues the current policy which forbids cell phone use of any kind in restrooms or locker rooms at all times. There is no change to the policy regarding cell phone use in an emergency situation – students and staff may continue to follow required safety guidelines and protocols, officials said.

There is no change to the “personal responsibility” aspect of cell phone use on campus; students are still responsible for their phones and the district does not assume responsibility for lost or stolen phones.

The “in class” policy change will be reinforced on campus through the use of “cell phone guidelines” posters which explain the new rules and the consequences.

Infractions will be subject to the campuses’ Discipline Management Plan, which assigns consequences based on criteria developed for each campus. Several trustees, including Mary Ellen Cuzela and Morgan Calhoun, expressed concern that the standards for infractions were not uniform across the district, while trustee Rebecca Fox supported campus autonomy. Board president Victor Perez asked that the board’s policy committee meet with district officials in order to give additional feedback about the proposed plan.

The policy draft was developed after benchmarking with neighboring districts who already have a 1:1 device policy, through feedback from KISD principals and from the Spring Discipline Management meetings. The policy has been in place at Morton Ranch Junior High for several months and district officials said that the school has seen a rise in test scores following its implementation.

The policy is needed in order to eliminate distractions in the classroom, officials said.

District officials plan to present a final draft of the policy to the board in June for approval, so that it can be reviewed prior to inclusion in the updated student handbook for the coming year. The new

policy, once approved, will be posted in July ahead of students’ return to campus in August, so that parents can fill out all the necessary “return to school" forms which will include an acknowledgement of this policy change.

The board also went into closed session for two separate consultations with the district’s attorney. In the first session, the evaluation and contract extension for current superintendent Ken Gregorski was approved by all seven board members, but no details were shared following trustees’ return to the open meeting.

Trustees went into closed session a second time to consider several terminations and non-renewals of other employee contracts and followed in open session by approving several recommended terminations.

Thirteen public speakers spoke during the “public comments” portion of the meeting, with most in support of the current board. Several speakers, including Dr. Rob Lyerly, senior pastor at Katy’s First Baptist Church, spoke about books which they felt should be banned and the process for removing them from KISD campuses.

The next board meetings will be:

· Work study meeting on May 6

· Regular board meeting on May 13