School District Restricts Cell Phone Use in All Grades

Biggest change coming for students at CVU

By The Record Staff

While neither the Chittenden Valley School District nor the state have issued a direct “policy” banning cell phones in schools, the district has issued “expectations” for the coming year which for all intents and purposes bans the use of mobile devices in area schools.

In a document that CVSD defines as “Procedures: Personal Mobile Devices in Grades PreK-12,” students in all grades must shut their phones off at the door (or leave them home) and place the devices in school-provided pouches to be placed in their lockers (upper grades) or to be stored by the school (lower grades) in designated spots until the end of the school day.

And this policy is not just for cell phones. “All their Bluetooth devices, including AirPods, smartwatches and other wireless headphones, must be stored in the envelope.”

Students who may need an exemption to the policy for medical reasons may make a request of either the Director of Guidance or the Director of Special Services, who will consider the request and determine appropriate accommodations.

Visitors are asked to follow the same cell phone expectations as students and staff. They will be asked to keep their cell phone out of sight while in the building.

The district, the document outlines, “is seeking to limit distractions in the classroom and improve overall student engagement, mental health and well-being. The goal is threefold:

• to create classroom environments where teachers can teach and students can learn free from distractions caused by the personal use of devices;

• to reduce the negative impacts for all students of inappropriate use of devices at school, such as cyberbullying, exposure to harmful content, and incidents involving mobile phones that detract from a healthy school climate; and

• to increase meaningful face-to-face connections between students.