photo by: Journal-World

The Lawrence school district offices, 110 McDonald Drive.

Lawrence school board members will consider approving a new cellphone policy that would make high school classrooms phone-free during instructional time.

On Monday, school board members will be reviewing a new draft of the high schools cellphone policy – aiming to keep cellphone use out of instructional time – and will consider final approval. The goal is to minimize distractions in the classroom, but make sure students can communicate with their families during the day by allowing use during passing periods and lunch.

There are also some exceptions, which include students who have medical needs and individualized education plans, or IEPs. These students may use their phones or other electronic devices as required by their health plan or as specified in their accommodations.

As the Journal-World reported, the board previously discussed the policy during its last meeting at the end of November, and some board members wished to seek further clarity on its rules. The current policy in place for cellphones at the high school level says phones should be “put away and out of sight,” and the latest draft of the new policy reads that “during instructional time, cell phone and personal electronic device use is prohibited in classrooms.”

Concerns about cellphone use in classrooms grew after several teachers urged the school board to revise the district’s phone policy for middle and high schools. A petition advocating for phone-free policies began circulating in late May. Following public comments from educators, parents, including Justin Blumenstiel, a University of Kansas professor, joined the call for change. Blumenstiel also presented information on phone-free school policies and created his own petition from district parents to support the change.

Although many educators and parents have called for a complete cellphone ban at school, a document outlining administration guidance from the November meeting notes that such a ban could hinder students’ ability to use phones for safety before and after school, and the policy seeks a balance.

In other business, school board members will:

* Consider approving a short-term spring contract not to exceed $35,000 with Proximity Learning, which will allow the district to pilot a virtual learning teaching experience at West Middle School to teach World Language and Spanish courses.

The virtual school will recruit a certified teacher to deliver live, virtual instruction and provide interactive lessons with in-class support. The classroom at West will continue to be staffed by a long-term substitute who will also meet weekly with the virtual teacher. According to the agenda, in Lawrence, “we have experienced a challenge in recruiting and hiring highly qualified, content-certified teachers for some content areas, specifically Spanish at the middle school level.”

In a presentation included in the agenda, the Lawrence school district reports that there are 50 certified teaching vacancies, with 31 special education vacancies and 19 general education positions. The Kansas State Department of Education annual report indicates that this is a trend happening statewide with special education having the highest number of teacher vacancies in the state with 480, up 82 from this past spring. Elementary teachers also had the second highest number of vacancies reaching 449 this fall.

The partnership with Proximity Learning can be dissolved if the district hires a qualified candidate for the position, according to the agenda.

* Hear the results from a visual survey conducted by architecture firm ACI Boland of existing sports facilities, physical education spaces, and extracurricular sports venues at the middle and high schools in the school district.

The evaluation also included a comparison of these facilities with those of peer districts within the same conference. To gather staff feedback, the evaluation team designed an electronic survey. The staff survey provided anonymous feedback that helped inform the study’s findings and recommendations, according to the agenda.

A presentation in the agenda highlights several concerns regarding the facilities at the middle schools, particularly the condition of the track and tennis courts. The track’s surfacing is nearing the end of its lifespan, and there are issues with grading and sloping.

At the high school level, concerns include the capacity for wrestling, especially with the addition of girls’ wrestling in the same season. Other issues involve the condition of the track and tennis courts, fitness equipment and the overall state of the gym spaces. Additionally, the press box at Free State High School requires repairs, and there are concerns about the gym’s seating capacity for cross-town games.

* Consider approving the purchase of 300 wireless access points totaling $102,304.80 to support students, staff, and visitors in accessing network resources and the internet via desktops, laptops, mobile phones, and iPads. The amount will be paid from the Capital Outlay fund designated for technology expenses.

* Consider approving year four of a five-year subscription for ConvergeOne, which provides IT security software to ensure network viability, security protection and operations, in the amount of $193,011.10. The purchase will include services from Cisco Cloudlock, Umbrella and AMP4E Essentials, all providing defense against internet threats by filtering internet traffic and blocking threats before they reach the network. The purchase will be paid from Technology Capital Outlay funds.

* Consider allowing the disposal of secondary athletic and activities uniforms that have aged out, by sale or auction, with pre-approval by the building principal and athletic or activities director. The funds deposited from replacement uniforms or program expenses, specific to the sport or activity whose uniforms are sold, or to the school athletics or activities programs.

* Hold an executive session for the purpose of discussing personnel matters with Superintendent Jeanice Swift invited to be present. There will be no action to follow the session.

The board will meet at 6 p.m. Monday at the district offices, 110 McDonald Drive. The meeting will also be available via the school district’s YouTube channel. Residents who want to share comments with the board may sign up in advance by emailing PublicComment@usd497.org by 6 p.m. Monday and may participate in person or via Webex video/phone conferencing.