KIMT News 3's Maureen Dudley is finding out how the policy is working, two months after the start of school.
ROCHESTER, Minn.-Rochester Public Schools made the decision at the beginning of the 2024-25 school year to ban cellphones in classrooms.
The policy requires elementary and middle school students to keep phones in their lockers or cubbies during the day. For high school students, they can use their phones in passing periods and lunch.
Rochester Public Schools director of student engagement and school climate Angi McAndrews said, "I think students have really risen to the occasion and we have not seen a lot of challenges in terms of implementation of the policy. I think that they're missing their phones but I think they're also recognizing that there's some advantage to having them away during the school day."
She said teachers have been enjoying having classrooms free of the usual phone noises as students pay attention to what's being taught.
"I think staff largely have been very supportive and appreciative of the consistency so they're not feeling like one classroom expectation competes with another classroom expectation," McAndrews stated. "I think when we have consistent expectations for kids that they're able to follow those expectations more uniformly."
While the high school students can have their phones out during passing periods, the district has allowed elementary and middle school students to have smart watches on them while in class.
"In all levels they should have them put away during instruction. I think the idea is that the more time that they, the more focus that they have during instruction the more takeaway they have from that in the educational capacity," McAndrews said.
While the policy has been in effect since school began, it is too soon for the district to determine if having phones out of the classroom is helping students scores.
She said, "We haven't had an end of the grading period yet but definitely teachers and staff are reporting increased engagement, so we would expect that learning would increase when kids are more focused on what's happening in the classroom."
The district plans on getting feedback from members of the school community in the next few months. The plan is to have the policy in place by March 2025.