Proposed Portland Public Schools Phone Policy Says Off and Away, Except at Lunch

It’s more lenient than what’s been implemented at a few schools in the district this year.

A student unlocks their Yondr pouch at an unlocking station in Grant High School. (Jake Nelson)
By Joanna Hou

A Portland Public Schools Board committee released its latest draft Oct. 21 of a districtwide phone policy. The general guidelines require students’ personal electronic devices to remain “off and away” during school hours, unless they’re being used for academic purposes or at lunch time.

It’s more lenient than what’s been implemented at a few schools in the district this year. Grant and Cleveland high schools and Beaumont Middle School all have cellphone-free policies that mandate phones remain in locked pouches throughout the school day (“Their Own Devices,” WW, Oct. 2).

As the PPS draft policy currently stands, schools may adopt additional restrictions. Several school board members voiced opinions that the general policy should be stricter—off and away from the first bell to the last—but acknowledged a generational divide.

As for the controversial Yondr pouches?

“Off and away during the school day does allow schools the flexibility to implement [the policy] in different ways,” says board member Julia Brim-Edwards, who heads the policy committee. “Me, personally, I’m not willing to mandate one particular tool for enforcement.”

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