LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. — The Lake Oswego School District has announced a cell phone ban for the upcoming school year.
"Beginning this school year, cell phones, and therefore smartphones, will no longer be permitted during the school day across all LOSD schools," the school district said in an email to parents. "The school board is in the final stages of completing this policy, and we anticipate it will be in place before the start of the 2024–25 school year."
Home to 6,800 students, the school district cited multiple studies about cell phones being disruptive to the learning environment and student mental health.
Clare Henshaw, a special education teacher within the district, applauded the decision.
"I think it'll be good socially for the kids to be able to hold conversations face to face instead of the phones; it'll take some adjusting, without a doubt; I think my daughter would agree," said Henshaw, who has a child in the district. "But yeah, I think it'll be a positive move."
Her daughter, Lizzi, said she sees cell phones as helpful in some school situations, but she gets the concerns.
Lake Oswego High School students Laila Bristol and Gretchen Gutwald agreed, too.
"I think it's definitely important to have the phones away when we're learning, but I think for the most part when teachers brought out phone caddies, and we were putting our phones away during class time, that worked, and I don't see the issue with having phones during lunch and stuff like that," Gretchen concluded.
"I think it's fine," Laila told KGW. "I think a lot of us don't need our phones during school anyway, but I get how it's frustrating because I think a lot of people are worried about not being able to reach their parents during emergencies and stuff."
The school district stated in their announcement that if parents want to contact their children, the district concluded, they may call the main office. It added that exceptions to the ban may be made for health and/or emergency reasons, with approval from the principal or noted in a student’s individualized education program (IEP) or 504 plan.
The Lake Oswego School Board still needs to vote on the ban during its Aug. 26 meeting.
This comes as Portland Public Schools is advancing its own plans for a new district-wide policy that would limit student phone use in schools as early as 2025. The policy would require phones to be turned off at school, except during lunchtime or before/after school, prohibit photos and videos being taken at school, and allow school staff to confiscate phones if students are using them during school hours. If a phone is confiscated, a parent, guardian, caregiver or other designated person would be required to pick up the phone.
Some schools — Grant High School, Cleveland High School, and Beaumont Middle School — are already taking matters into their own hands by requiring students to use Yondr phone pouches for this upcoming school year. Other districts, from North Clackamas to Hillsboro to Vancouver, have varying forms of restrictions.
Evan Watson contributed to this report.