First of all if you would like to support repealing the policy at the December 10th school board meeting and or would like to help with campaigning against it please feel free to contact me at: ckmccutcheon01@bvsd.org

The recently revised cellphone policy (JRCT), adopted on November 19th 2024, has sparked widespread concern among high school students and staff within the Boulder Valley School District. This policy, which significantly restricts cellphone use, replaces the more flexible JRCT-R guidelines that had been in place since 2019. While the board’s intention of fostering focused learning environments is appreciated, this drastic shift highlights critical issues: a lack of communication with the high school community and an exclusion of student voices in the decision-making process.

Under the prior JRCT-R policy, high school students were allowed to use their personal technology devices (PTDs) during non-class periods and for educational purposes under teacher direction. By contrast, the new JRCT policy mandates that all PTDs, including wearable devices and tablets, must remain off and out of sight throughout the school day unless explicitly authorized. This blanket restriction disregards the evolving role of technology as a vital tool for collaboration, creativity, and innovation in modern high school education.

Research from Education Week suggests that balanced technology integration can improve learning outcomes by up to 60%. Rather than harnessing this potential, the new policy risks alienating students and undermining the effective use of digital tools in high schools. Furthermore, it fails to address real-world scenarios where technology is necessary for communication, safety, and academic support.

We urge the Board to reconsider the JRCT policy for high schools and return to an approach that values input from students and staff. Instead of imposing blanket restrictions, the district should explore solutions that encourage responsible technology use, such as:

Developing teacher-led guidelines for classroom technology use.
Offering digital citizenship programs to teach students how to use technology responsibly.

We will present these concerns at the December 10th Boulder Valley School Board meeting. Your presence is crucial to ensure high school students’ voices are heard. We encourage all high school students, parents, and educators to attend and share their opinions on this important issue.

Your signature matters. Together, we can advocate for a policy that respects high school students’ perspectives, embraces the potential of technology, and fosters both focus and innovation in education.