The dean of students is making us keep our phones in our lockers or back packs at all times during classes. I do not have a problem with this until it got to the point where some of us need to get in contact with our parents during the school day. I do not think that all students should be effected by this if they have not done anything wrong. Yes, a verbal warning can go a long way and we all make mistakes, but it does not need to get to the point where they are going to suspend us if they see a phone out. Not to mention they are banning wireless headphones, meaning some kids who use them to cope with their music aren't going to be able to do this. I do not agree with the way they are handling the situation.

This is the email they had sent out this afternoon.  

Hello Chi-Hi Students and Families,

We want you all to know that overall, our student body has been displaying respect for each other, their teachers, and our authority within the building. We are, however, experiencing some issues that are affecting our school culture in many of the same ways they are affecting society in general. 

One of the most impactful issues that we are seeing, and one that is having a detrimental impact on learning and school safety is cell phone usage. We have communicated with our staff and students several times throughout the year that cell phones have become a major disruption with notifications, earbuds, music, and the overall general lack of focus in the classroom. Lately however, cell phones have been increasingly used to arrange, provoke, record, threaten, harass, and outright lead to dangerous behavior in the form of physical fights and threats. Even after these events are over, the circle of cell phone communication rapidly expands, and keeps the incident ongoing, severely impacting mental health and school safety. 

According to teacher data, in addition to the nearly 300 cell phone writeups documented, there are nearly ten verbal warnings to put the phone away prior to a write up being considered. The PE class survey indicated that 60% of students are on their cell phone 6+ hours per day.  Another informal English class study indicated that students were interrupted over 200+ times per hour by their cell phone alerts. Additionally, there continues to be escalation of student reaction to teachers simply requesting compliance with the current cell phone policy. These incidents often lead to a continued delay in learning and elevated defiance.  

We know that our students can do better.  Our current policy is cell phones are not allowed during class time, but throughout the year, our student practices have diminished, and we need to get back to the standards we set at the beginning of the year. So we are going to do a reboot of our current policy.  

April 4th will mark the start of the fourth quarter of the school year. Effective on that day, Chippewa Falls High School will be implementing a higher standard regarding cell phone use.  We will be upholding this standard throughout the end of the year. 

Follow-through of this policy will be as outlined below:

The expectation is that cell phones are not out or used during class time
During the hours of class time, student phones should be in their academic locker
No wireless earbuds 
Between classes and lunch periods phones can be used
If a student forgets, or is found to have their phone on their person, they will be given an opportunity at the teacher's discretion to leave and place the phone in their locker
Our teachers will not be checking backpacks; they will be focusing on instruction."

This can be handled differently. If you think that this should be changed please sign this. They have a no cell phone list and it was being used in the correct manor.