Quincy School District to restrict use of cell phones

QUINCY — Student use of cell phones in the Quincy School District will be restricted during the school day under the provisions of a new policy to be implemented Nov. 12.  

“We would kick it off right after parent conferences,” said Quincy Middle School Principal Scott Ramsey during a presentation at the Aug. 13 Quincy School Board meeting.  

Quincy Superintendent Nik Bergman said different restrictions will be implemented at different grade levels.  

“At K-5 (the phone) needs to be in their backpack,” Bergman said. “We’re seeing more and more students in school — the early elementary, even third grade — with a cell phone than we used to in the past.” 

Quincy High School students will be able to access their phones, but only at specific times during the school day.  

“The biggest change at the high school is that cell phones will no longer be allowed in classrooms as an educational tool,” Bergman said. “They can be used during lunch and passing periods, and that’s it at this point.”  

Quincy Middle School students will be required to keep the phone in a school-issued pouch with an electronic lock. Middle school students will be required to turn off the phone when they get to school each day, put it in the pouch and store in a locker or backpack until classes are dismissed for the day. 

“There are stations around the school that are put out at the end of the day where they can demagnetize the pouch,” Bergman said. “If they have to talk to their parents, there will be a place in the office where they can demagnetize (the lock).” 

Ramsey said that cell phones have brought challenges with them, in Quincy as well as other districts.  

"There are a lot of school districts that are moving to a phone-free environment in their schools, especially their middle schools,” Ramsey said. “They’re doing so because of the different problems and concerns that they have faced, the learning concerns that are happening in middle schools especially. We’re facing similar problems and issues in our building too.”  

Ramsey said phones in the classroom are a distraction; students want to look at them when they get a new notification, even if they’re supposed to be paying attention to the teacher. Social media also has contributed to bullying, Bergman said in an earlier interview. 

"I would say the overwhelming majority of our bullying incidents start on social media. And it’s generally out of school hours, then it comes into schools,” Bergman said. 

Phones have changed the dynamic of bullying as well, he said.  

“Pre-cell phone, the student could go home and get away from it. Now there is no escape for some of our students, or it happens outside of schoolhouse walls,” Bergman added. 

Assistant QMS Principal Greg Martinez said his research indicates social media use contributes to increased mental health problems among young people. 

Students who violate the policy will have their phones confiscated, and parents will be contacted if there are repeated violations. Accommodations will be made for students who must have access to their phones, a chronic medical condition being one example. 

“We’ll have different opportunities to talk to parents,” Ramsey said, starting with the open house at each building at the beginning of the school year.