SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – Following other school districts in the state, the Sioux Falls School District is joining the conversation on phone use in schools by creating a group to study their impact in the classroom.
SFSD’s School Board President Carly Reiter said the group will have around 30 members including teachers, parents, administrators and even students.
In middle schools, phones are currently not allowed in the classroom or hallways the entire school day. The high schoolers have a more flexible policy where phones are not allowed during class periods but can be used between classes and over lunch.
The purpose of the study, Reiter said, isn’t necessarily to change the current policy, but to work out some of the existing challenges with phone use in the classroom.
“The idea isn’t that they come to the board with a recommendation, but it’s more of a ‘Let’s all try to understand each other and how can we make this better,’” Reiter said.
The strictness of the phone policy varies for each teacher, Reiter said. Some teachers require students to shut their phones off and keep them in their bags, others are more lenient and some teachers use the over-the-door shoe pouches for students to put their phones in during class.
“The problem with that is that kids will find a way around everything,” she said. “Kids probably have other phones at home, older phones or whatever, so they can walk up and just put something in the pocket and nobody is gonna know the difference, so that’s not necessarily effective.”
The solutions that other, smaller districts are working with implement in their schools aren’t feasible for a district the size of Sioux Falls, either. Before the start of the school year, Gettysburg School District bought magnetic, locking pouches for their 220 students, which cost a little over $4,000 for the district.
“That might make sense for a district with 200 kids, but not 25,000,” Reiter said. “The expense of that would be ridiculous, then the replacement value of that. There’s already videos online showing kids how to unlock the magnet and use your phone. I think the more responsible thing to do would be to try to help people help kids understand how to use their phone appropriately.”
Superintendent Jane Stavem echoed those same sentiments in an August 2024 column. Stavem said collaborating with parents will help create a good partnership between home and school.
“The reality is that banning cell phones is not the only solution,” Stavem said in her column. “Parents and guardians play a crucial role in guiding their children to be responsible consumers of technology. They decide when a child is allowed to have a phone, set parameters for its use, and manage the apps and content on the device.”
Reiter said one way parents can help their students and collaborate with teachers is by not texting and distracting them during the school day.
“If as parents, we don’t reach out to our kids during the day for just random, you know, whatever it is, then that gives them less reasons to be on their phone or have that temptation, so I think it’s a community effort.”
More information on joining the group will be released by the SFSD in the coming weeks.
