The Aspen School District is banning cellphone use throughout the school day in its elementary, middle, and high school.
While the district previously banned cellphone use in classrooms, students often used their phones during lunch and free periods.
The district says cellphones are a huge distraction, and the ban is an attempt to help students focus on their classwork and reconnect with their peers in-person, but student groups have expressed concern to district staff repeatedly that a cellphone ban would be more disruptive than helpful.
In a letter to families on Wednesday, the district outlined the specific policies at Aspen Elementary School, Aspen Middle School, and Aspen High School.
Students cannot use cellphones on campus until after 3:25 p.m. on school days, and they’ll be given one warning if a teacher or staff member sees them using their cellphone. Upon a second violation, the device will be confiscated and can be picked up after school lets out. Parents will also be notified. A third violation will require students to turn in their cellphones to the front office at the beginning of each school day for 10 consecutive school days.
Mulberry sat down with reporter Halle Zander on Monday to discuss the details of the decision.
Halle Zander: Let's start off with, Tharyn, what is happening with cellphones at the Aspen School District this coming school year?
Tharyn Mulberry: So the big thing is that schools will not be allowing cellphones to be out during the school day, from the start of school until the end of the school day. Now, they can have them during extracurricular activities and they can have them at school events. The enforcement of that will be (that) parents will have to come in and pick up the phone if it's found on the student being used.
Zander: So students could, in theory, keep their phones in their pockets, in their lockers, in their backpacks and not use them.
Mulberry: And that has been a part of our policy for a while. I think a lot of it is going to be ramping up the enforcement. Currently, kids are required to put their cellphones into pockets during the day. They're not allowed to be out during that, but they do have some freedom to look at those cell phones during lunch time and those things.
Zander: So this is not sudden. You’ve been asking for feedback from the community. What has that looked like?
Mulberry: Like, just this last year, we had a community town hall on cellphones. We've had multiple parent meetings. We've had presentations at the Board of Education. We have done, I think, two separate surveys. The community is pretty clear that there's a huge amount of issues with cellphones in classrooms. It's a huge distraction. We're always looking at this cellphone conversation as a loss of a student right. What we're forgetting is all the things that students will gain. They will gain back the opportunity to have conversations with each other one-on-one. They'll gain back being aware of what's going on around their environment. They won't have to constantly monitor their social media presence and those sorts of things. It just relieves a lot of that anxiety.
Zander: Was there any conversation when you were making this decision about trying to help students manage how to deal with the distraction versus removing the distraction altogether?
Mulberry: You know, we actually had a couple of soft starts with doing this work. So, I had an opportunity to ask my high school principal, Sarah Strassburger, what happened when students were given that two-week trial to follow the policy as written? There were 70 infractions a day.
Zander: Wait, so you were monitoring how many people broke the current policy?
Mulberry: The current policy. So that'll give you an idea. So I think what you're asking is ‘can we figure out a way to use the phones in an educational capacity and teach the students how to use it responsibly?’ I think the backlash that we've had around this is that it's unenforceable when that comes around. So, we're looking for a way to implement a cellphone ban in classrooms, which has been around for a while, by the way, in a way that actually works. And we'll do that. I mean, I've heard everything from kids using burner phones into the pockets to kids still going out to the bathroom and using the phones. And again, those behaviors will most likely continue. And I think we'll just make it a little easier for our teachers and staff to enforce it. And I think, most of the teachers that I've spoken to have been in favor of having a clear policy, and a clear process when there's an infraction. and that it just doesn't fall on deaf ears.
Zander: So some students, in particular students of color, students with disabilities, may be more nervous about a cellphone ban because it limits their ability to call for help in certain situations. Was equity a consideration as you were developing this policy?
Mulberry: One of the big reasons why we didn't go to the Yondr pouch, where it locks up the cellphone for the day, is when we started reading about some of the issues, equity was one of those. Would the student have access to their phone at all? When we're talking about our particular ban on cellphones, if they had that cellphone in their backpack, they would still have the accessibility if it were an emergency situation to get to the phone. So, I think it would be something that would mitigate some of those equity issues that you just described, where if we locked up the phones every day, that could be problematic.
We will listen very closely to our students that may need this as a safety net for some of the issues they're facing in the school. And I'm thinking about a lot of our marginalized student populations that would probably need that. Although, I could probably make the argument that more people are marginalized by cellphones, by some of the bullying that occurs with the use of that technology. So again, it's always a mixed bag. But I do think having the students have ultimate access to it is a good idea.
Zander: Are you excited for this change?
Mulberry: I'm very excited about it. What I tell my staff is we have to be willing to try new things. I think the only issue I have is the element of student agency in this, because I did think we had our student senate and some groups come forward with opposition to this … And I just want to make sure that we definitely considered, very deeply, all the concerns that they had. But in the wake of this mounting evidence with cellphones, we thought it was best to go this direction now. And again, as with all policies, it's always subject to review.
Zander: Is there a way that students can stay involved in this decision, or that they can feel like their voices are going to be heard moving forward?
Mulberry: Students will always have an opportunity to speak to me. They will always have an opportunity to be a part of our accountability work. They have a chance to meet with the board and have. There's student liaisons on the board, and I plan on meeting this week with the students in it, with Sarah Strassburger, to have this conversation. So, I do think that students have some agency in this, but I can definitely understand why they would feel like they weren't listened to.
Zander: Is there anything you feel like you can learn from how other schools have handled this, that you want to make sure you incorporate or that you want to avoid?
Mulberry: You do have to make the decision, and then you just have to communicate it. And then you have to stick to it and follow through with what you decided to do. And so I think that those are the big underlying tenets that I've pulled from that research.
Zander: OK. So consistency, you know.
Mulberry: Oh, yes. Consistency and making the decision, because I think sometimes the half measures can lead to a lot of confusion around policy. We need to do our part to make sure students have an opportunity to learn everything they can learn while they're at school. And if we know this is something that we're not sure about, then we have an obligation to keep our kids protected and safe.
