CHS implements new cell phone rules
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — Instead of texting someone who is sitting only a few feet away, students at Colfax High School are discovering they can actually talk to each other.
That’s because of a new rule recently implemented at Colfax High School absolutely prohibiting cell phones in class.
John Dachel, high school principal, reported on the new rule at the Colfax Board of Education’s October 29 meeting.
Colfax Board of Education Policy 9151 only allows the use of cell phones during the day in the hallways in between classes, during lunch hour and before or after school. Cell phones are prohibited in locker rooms at all times of the day.
Teacher complaints about the abuse of cell phones during class time prompted the formulation of the new rules, Dachel said.
The students’ “need to use their cell phones is greater than their need to stay focused in the classroom,” he said.
And now that the Colfax school district has reached a one-to-one goal of Chromebooks for each student, cell phones are no longer needed as a tool for classroom use, Dachel said.
Colfax High School sent a letter to parents telling them about the new “No Cell Phone in Class Procedure.”
School administrators also talked to the students about the implementation of the new cell phone rule, Dachel said.
Some exceptions do apply.
One requirement for the American Sign Language class, for example, is that students videotape themselves doing certain assignments and then must send those videos to the instructor, Dachel said.
American Sign Language class is one of the Distance Learning classes available to Colfax High School students.
Dachel said during the first week the rule was implemented, he expected to have a desk full of cell phones in his office.
In reality, there were five cell phones, and the next week, there were fewer yet, he said.
Consequences
Consequences for bringing a cell phone to class include:
• First offense — the cell phone is sent to the high school office for pickup at the end of the day.
• Second offense — the cell phone is sent to the high school office for pickup at the end of the day, and parents will be contacted.
• Third offense — Parent or guardian is contacted and must pick up the cell phone from the office at the end of the day. The phone only will be given to the parent or guardian.
• Fourth offense — Parent or guardian is contacted and must pick the phone up from the office at the end of the day. If the cell phone is brought to school the following day, the student must put the phone in the office for five school days or not bring it on school grounds.
• Fifth offense — Parent or guardian is contacted and must pick the phone up from the high school office at the end of the day. If the phone is brought to school the following day, the student must put the phone in the office for 20 school days or not bring it on school grounds.
The rule also states if the student refuses to hand the cell phone over to the teacher, he or she will be sent to the high school office and the phone handed over to the high school principal or the administrator. If the student continues to refuse to hand over the phone, parents or guardians will be contacted, along with the local police.
Positive change
The teachers are enjoying the students not having their cell phone in class, Dachel said.
“This has been a great change in our district. I applaud the students and the staff,” he said.
“It’s been going real smooth. I’ve only had to call a couple of parents,” Dachel noted.
In addition to the goal of encouraging high school students to talk to each other, the new rule has other positives as well.
“I’ve heard a lot of positives from the kids … They know they can’t have [their cell phones] so it’s easier for them,” Dachel said.
The elementary school and the middle school implemented the rule of no cell phones in class a while ago, he said.
Elementary students can bring their cell phones to school, but the phone must stay in their backpacks until the end of the day, said Trevor Hovde, principal at Colfax Elementary.
“Consistency is good,” he said, adding he periodically has to take away a cell phone at the elementary school but that it does not happen very often.
William C. Yingst Jr., district administrator, said he knew it would painful right away for the students but that he also was pleasantly surprised to hear mature comments.
Yingst said one student had said without the cell phone in class, he was able to get his homework done during class time.
“They are proving it can be done,” he said.
Now that the rules are the same throughout the building, there is consistency, Yingst said.