photo by: Journal-World

Lawrence school district headquarters at 110 McDonald Drive.

Lawrence school board members will hear an update from district staff on Monday about how new restrictions on cellphone use have been implemented in Lawrence’s high schools.

As the Journal-World has reported, school board members approved a new cellphone policy for high school students which banned their use during instructional time, and it went into effect in January. The goal of the policy was to improve the teaching and learning environment in the classroom and to limit screen time in schools.

The change in the cellphone policy at high schools was prompted by requests from several parents and teachers, who had submitted petitions to the board earlier in the year. After collecting feedback through surveys and in-person discussions, the school district found that most respondents favored stricter cellphone policies to reduce classroom distractions. However, opinions varied on the best approach for enforcing these measures.

In other business, school board members will:

• Consider approving the renewal of contracts with Beautiful Music, Wind Instrument Connections and Meyer Music in the total amount of $106,700 for band and orchestra instrument maintenance and repair. The contract will be paid from the curriculum and instruction budget and existing instrument rental/maintenance fees collected from students, according to the agenda.

• Consider approving the purchase of 15 snow blowers in the amount of $26,760 from Heinen Outdoor Power Equipment. According to the agenda, a lot of the school district’s snow blowers are in poor condition and have frequently experienced mechanical failures. These challenges have made it harder for the equipment to effectively remove snow, leading to delays and safety hazards on school grounds. The purchase will be funded through the district’s capital outlay budget.

• Consider adopting modifications to the existing procedures for streaming meetings and receiving public comments. The changes would be for the purpose of ensuring the district complies “with the streaming platform’s acceptable use policies” and to clarify the enforcement of anti-bullying policies during public comment at board meetings.

• Hold an executive session for the purpose of discussing personnel matters with no action to follow.

• Hear a report from district staff about the “proposed adapted equity reporting cycle”; no additional information about this topic was provided in the meeting agenda.

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.