Denver Public Schools starts year with sweeping phone ban
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Denver Public School students return to class next Monday with a new rule: No mobile phones in class — at least not until the final bell rings.
Why it matters: Colorado's largest school district is adopting one of the state's strictest personal device bans — part of a broader push by educators to keep students focused on whiteboards instead of pocket-size screens.
State of play: Four of Colorado's five largest districts — Aurora Public Schools, DPS, Douglas County School District and Jeffco Public Schools — adopted restrictions for the fall to comply with a state law.
- Cherry Creek School District doesn't have a district-wide policy and instead allows individual schools to set their own rules, district spokesperson Lauren Snell says in a statement.
How it works: Denver's ban applies to every student in the district's 198 schools, though charter schools within DPS can opt out, district operational services director Scott Wolf tells us.
- School leaders received toolkits describing the new policy, including exemptions, while staff receive them this week. Students and their families can view the kit online.
- Each school will develop its own implementation plan. The policy covers any personal communication devices, including tablets, computers and earbuds.
Device storage will vary by school, Wolf adds. The district discourages locking pouches because "it's a lot to manage."
- Students will be asked to power off devices and store them in backpacks during the school day. Older students with lockers may be asked to keep devices there.
What they're saying: "We're trying to make sure that students have distraction-free learning environments," Wolf says.
Between the lines: Policy violations will follow a four-step process.
- A first violation brings a verbal warning from a teacher or staff member.
- Repeated violations can lead to a device being confiscated, and a parent or guardian may be required to retrieve it.
Caveat: South High School English instructor Lauren Godbey instituted a no-cellphone policy before the districtwide rule. She says the new policy feels more "like a Band-Aid," though still a "step in the right direction."
- She says the policy may not alleviate the phones' impact on students' mental health and emotional well-being.
The intrigue: A National Bureau of Economic Research study found phone bans had a "close to zero" effect on test scores, with "little evidence" they affected attendance, classroom attention or perceived online bullying.
Plus, some parents are wary about losing direct access to their children during emergencies.
- Wolf says the district would make phones available to students in emergencies, including to contact a parent or guardian.
The bottom line: This school year will be the biggest test yet whether restricting devices such as smartphones can reshape the daily classroom experience for hundreds of thousands of Colorado students.