West Allis-West Milwaukee School District bans cellphones in intermediate and high schools

In an effort to quell fights, the West Allis-West Milwaukee School District has banned the use of cellphones in its intermediate and high schools.

The school board's decision, reached March 27, bans cellphones at the schools during the school day; the ban went into effect April 17 and will last through June 10. The ban was adjusted April 26 to allow high school students to use their cellphones during their lunch period while in the cafeteria.

Cellphones were already banned at the elementary school level.

The ban also prohibits students from using phones or other devices to record or instigate fights and share or post them on social media. Violation could result in a two-day in-school suspension or long-term removal from school, according to an email to parents from West Allis-West Milwaukee School District superintendent Marty Lexmond and West Allis-West Milwaukee School Board President Noah Leigh.

So far this school year, the district has removed 26 students from its schools for involvement in "major fights." There have been 183 students cited at the district's secondary schools for violations to the law on school grounds.

The district also has students on pre-expulsion contracts "for disruptions to the learning environment," Leigh and Lexmond's letter said. "These contracts give students a second opportunity to correct the behavior with swift removal from school if the contract is violated."

Their letter did not specify how many students are on those contracts.

The district has scheduled a student supports workshop for May 15 with the school board about resources to help students resolve conflicts at school.

West Allis-West Milwaukee communications coordinator Amanda Stewart said the district might have a better idea in May of how effective and how well received the new policy is.

Parents who spoke to the Journal Sentinel had differing reactions to the district's cellphone ban.

Amber Krueger, who has sons in both middle school and high school in the district, supported the ban. She said while her youngest son doesn't have an issue with it, her oldest son has a harder time because he likes listening to music while he does his work.

"Cell phones can be a distraction in the classroom, and removing this distraction means we have a greater chance that kids are paying attention to their teachers (which can lead to better absorption of the material, which in turn can lead to better performance for individual students as well as for the district). Nothing will ever please everyone, and no decision is going to be 100% effective, but it sounds like there’s been a positive effect thus far," Krueger said in a Facebook message to a reporter.

However, parent Laura Korth, who has a son in sixth grade at Lane Intermediate School, was opposed to the policy.

"I think it's ridiculous. Why punish all kids for the actions of a few? For example, my son is a good kid and student. He does not (and did not) use his phone during class or school, unless allowed to do so. He only used it to contact me if/when he needed to contact me when being bullied, which unfortunately happens daily. His school was not allowing him to go to the office to contact me, so he used his phone. The school did not contact me when these things happened, so the only way he could contact me was his cell phone. I feel as though they (school) took phones away in order to hide the bad things (bullying, fights, etc)," said Korth in a Facebook message to a reporter.

Here are examples of what other area school districts' cellphone policies look like.

Wauwatosa

The district has two policies addressing cellphones. Using devices, "is generally prohibited on school grounds, at school sponsored events and on school buses or other vehicles provided by the district," according to the district's communications coordinator Sarah Ellis.

She also said students are not allowed to use phones "if it disrupts the educational process."

She added that cellphones may not be used during the school day at the elementary level. At the middle and high school levels, students may use their cellphones before school, during passing times, lunch, free periods and after school. Cellphones may not be used in physical education/athletic locker rooms and in bathrooms.

Middle and high school students are not allowed to use their devices during class, while high school level students have to get permission from their teacher. If a teacher grants permission, devices are to be used "for educationally appropriate activities."

Teachers and administration impose consequences for misuse at their discretion. The implementation and enforcement of these policies lies at the building level, Ellis said.

She added that Wauwatosa East High School and Longfellow and Whitman middle schools "are in the process of creating rules and processes related to cell phone usage during instructional time."

In January, the district began implementing additional strategies to improve school culture and climate. One of those strategies is to deliver consequences for students who record fights. Students who do so could face a conference/intervention at the building or classroom level up to a five-day out-of-school suspension, Ellis said.

Waukesha

While Waukesha School District students may have cellphones on school property, vehicles or at after-school activities or school-related functions, they must be "stored out of sight" during class, study hall or other instructional time, its policy says. Phones should stay at home, in lockers or in phone caddies in front of classrooms, said Waukesha School District communications specialist Mary Jo King in an email.

Using a cellphone against the school's rules can result in phones being taken away and returned to a parent after the student complies with any disciplinary consequences. Violations involving possible illegal activity may result in phones being turned over to law enforcement.

Discipline for violating the district's cellphone policy ranges from a warning to an expulsion. The level of punishment is determined by how many previous violations a student has and the nature of the circumstances related to a violation. The policy was adopted in October 2017 and was last revised in June 2018.

According to district data, there have been 1,254 cellphone policy violations in the 2022-23 school year so far, up from 798 in the 2021-22 school year.

"Although the numbers may look to be increasing, it is not due to more students violating the board policy, but more staff are reporting it regularly, as it has been an area of improved documentation and enforcement this year," King said.

Arrowhead

Arrowhead High School students are not allowed to have their phones in class or during learning time unless teachers give permission, according to Arrowhead superintendent Laura Myrah.

Consequences for violations depend on the severity of the violations. First offenses could result in the device being taken away for the rest of class, contacting parents, discussing and reviewing the district's terms and conditions for its network and device usage, restricting network or equipment access, requirement to pay for damages, referral to administration and the police for legal action if necessary and potential suspension and dismissal.

Myrah said that several months ago, Arrowhead School Board member Amy Hemmer brought forward the idea of banning cellphones during the school day. Myrah said the idea was forwarded to the board's policy committee, where the district's administration was asked to investigate potential pros and cons of a student cellphone ban. Myrah said the district's administration plan to share its findings at the policy committee's May 16 meeting.

"I suspect at that time board members will hold further discussion regarding the idea of a cellphone ban and then will determine if any related changes to current policies should go before the full school board for discussion and a vote," said Myrah.

Code of conduct review this summer

The West Allis-West Milwaukee School District plans to review its code of conduct this summer with a team of principals and teachers.Once that's completed, the district is planning a new student onboarding process to develop a common understanding of schools' expectations, a review of the number of student services staff the district allocates to each school building, consistent schoolwide assemblies and events for students and staff "to be a part of discussions around appropriate behavior and everyone's responsibility to a positive learning environment," foster student leadership in schools to encourage student input on school climate through regular school assemblies, conduct empathy interviews and listening sessions with students and student groups and create spaces to submit concerns and share ideas.

Contact Alec Johnson at (262) 875-9469 or alec.johnson@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @AlecJohnson12.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: West Allis-West Milwaukee Schools bans cellphones in secondary schools