Cascade School District is committed to fostering learning environments that promote student learning, engagement, and health. Social media and constant access to personal technology devices create a significant barrier in our schools. The District’s current policies – which limit personal devices to educational use only – are not working, and we need to make some changes.

Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, our draft thinking is to prohibit access (in backpacks) to personal cell phones, smart watches, and wireless headphones during the school day (start of the day bell to the end of the day bell) for students throughout our schools. Upper classmen would have access to personal devices during off campus lunch.

The District is still in the process of reviewing this policy; the current policy limits personal devices to educational use only. Families will continue to receive updates from the district and school administration. Updates will also be available on this webpage to provide information and answer questions.

We believe that if students don’t have their cell phones, headphones, or smart watches during class, they will be able to focus better on their lessons and connect more with their teachers and classmates. By removing these distractions, we can create a better learning atmosphere that helps everyone do their best and supports healthy social and emotional growth.

The District has begun the process of updating board policies to include new restrictions for personal cell phone use in our school. We have:

• Talked with staff, parents, and students

• Reviewed existing research on the impact of cell phones and the most effective phone policies for schools

• Met with other schools who have put phone restrictions in place (or gone phone free) and learn from their experiences

• Discussed policy updates during school board meetings

We will continue to work on this plan and look forward to your feedback at various forums. We want to thank you for your support as we strive to make our schools a more effective and healthy learning environment for our students.

Topic covered: Why we are doing this, where we are at in the process, what we heard in the surveys, and community feedback. You can review the presentation slides online here or download the PDF here.