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Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Reardan enacts policy; Davenport discusses
DAVENPORT — Should cell phones be disallowed at school? That was among the topics of conversation at a school board meeting Monday, July 31.
Superintendent Chad Prewitt posed the question to the board after reports that the Reardan-Edwall School District and Peninsula School District had enacted some form of a cell phone ban amongst students during school hours.
The conversation indeed went a step further to unanimous action in Reardan, where the school board voted to disallow cell phones and other communication devices in most instances Wednesday, July 26.
“It’s probably the most strict policy in Eastern Washington,” superintendent Eric Sobotta said.
Reardan’s policy says that cell phones, smart watches, iPads/tablets and earbuds must be kept in a locker while on school property during regular school hours.
The policy is stringent to K-8 students, who won’t be allowed to access their devices at all during school hours.
High school students can access telecommunications devices during mid-morning break and lunch.
“The motivation is to create a better learning environment so teachers can focus on teaching instead of monitoring cell phone use,” board member Tessa Wicks said.
Wicks said teachers will still have cellphone access, partially to help in the case of an emergency.
“There’s proven statistics that cellphones often do more damage than good during a lockdown situation,” she said.
Each Davenport board member had various questions and feedback to offer.
Tami Odenrider asked whether the ban would extend to lockdown situations, which Davenport experienced multiple times this year.
“During those situations, it was nice to get a text from my kids saying, ‘I’m okay,’” she said.
Jaymie Bennett asked if a ban would include GPS trackers that some parents put on young elementary schoolers.
“If it does, I think we’d get some pushback on that,” she said.
Deanna Fitzpatrick spoke in support of the ban, saying that the district should ask parents to encourage students against bringing phones to school this year to prepare for a potential ban next year.
“I think there’s some wishful thinking there,” board member Garrett Husky responded.
Janie Schreck was fully in favor of a phone ban.
“I’m all for this,” she said. “If we get pushback, I’m ready. Bring it on.”
Prewitt said a proposal is unlikely this year, but is a strong possibility for the 2024-25 school year.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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