Thousands sign petition opposing CCSD policy on cellphones

Charlize Leary is a rule-follower, thoughtful and well-spoken.

But Monday, when she begins her first day of ninth grade, she won’t be putting her cellphone in a signal-blocking pouch as the Clark County School District now requires.

“Absolutely not. I’m keeping it in my backpack,” said Leary, who lives in Henderson. “If I have to, I’ll claim that I don’t have it.”

She said she’ll turn off the volume. “It will not be a disruption,” she said. “It just will not be signal-blocked.”

CCSD announced over the summer that starting this year, students in grades 6-12 must place their phones in nonlocking, signal-blocking pouches during classroom learning time, while elementary schools have the option to use the pouches.

The metallic bags are sealed with Velcro closures. The district says that while exact procedures may vary by school, students will be able to access their phones in an emergency or an evacuation drill. Under existing policy on electronic device usage, students can also use their phones during lunch and snack breaks, at school-sponsored events, and on the bus.

The district said the new rule is intended to reduce distractions. And Leary, who has had her own phone since sixth grade, acknowledged that sometimes classmates use their phones irresponsibly — but perhaps instead of being secured in pouches that prevent them from immediately showing that somebody has called or texted, phones can be collected in one place in the classroom and set to silent or vibrate, she said.

She’s closer to agreeing with school administrators than not.

“I just do not agree on the execution that they’re deciding to implement this with,” she said. “Signal-blocking is just a little too far, in my opinion.”

As Leary’s resistance shows and the thousands of people who signed her online petition against the pouches would agree, not everybody is looking forward to CCSD’s newest phone control measures.

The district said it successfully piloted the pouches at 10 schools last year. For the full-scale rollout, CCSD purchased about 283,000 Faraday Defense NX3 pouches for about $2.6 million.

“This will help with our focus on teaching and learning,” Interim Superintendent Brenda Larsen-Mitchell said at a news conference last week reviewing safety and security measures for the coming year. “Students will have access to their cellphones if needed, as these are nonlocking cellphone pouches.”

Still, Leary fears not being able to communicate during an emergency. She said if there’s a shooting, the front office won’t be able to handle a crush of parents calling to check on their children. And she feels for others who use their phones for good.

Friends with anxiety or attention deficit disorder may be able to use their phones to calm their symptoms, such as by listening to music, she said. She said she heard from another student who was able to let her parents know, in real time, that she was being sexually harassed in school and who the perpetrator was, allowing the situation to be resolved.

Leary’s online petition, which is open to the general public, against the phone pouches has received more than 25,000 signatures in less than a month and encouraged several supporters to send letters to the school board.

Leary’s friend Sean Driscoll, who partnered with her on the petition, said the pouches are a waste of money and there are more important things CCSD can focus on.

“I believe they should use their funds for higher teacher salary, better school lunches and equipments, possibly bulletproof doors and windows, metal detectors,” said Driscoll, an incoming ninth-grader at Las Vegas Academy of the Arts.

“They are putting the students in danger by not allowing them to receive texts and calls from their parents,” he added. “These pouches are signal-blocking, therefore they won’t be able to receive calls or texts from their parents. Emergencies can happen at the most unexpected moments, and in an emergency, every single second counts.”

Jason Leary, Charlize’s father, had mixed thoughts on the phone rules but said he supports his daughter’s effort and that she’s using her voice.

“My initial take on this all is, I agree, I don’t think they should have phones in the school. Now, I don’t think you should take the phone away from the kid,” he said. “But again, now, what are we doing? We’re telling teachers to babysit the phone usage, and that’s distracting for the course of learning, which is something that I’m completely against. What is the solution? I don’t know. I think that there needs to be so many other things, and it probably starts at home. But the reality is, I would rather have the ability to get a hold of my child than not.”

Charlize Leary said most days, when she never needed to contact her parents during school hours, she had her phone put away when she was supposed to.

“I’ve seen students definitely use their phones for nonschool-related activities on the daily,” she said. “It depends on the teacher’s strictness — like if they’re willing to crack down on it, phones are not an issue.”

Last week, the Carson City School District announced that it would begin a similar policy this year to combat distractions, cyberbullying and cheating. That policy is stricter than CCSD’s, requiring students in Carson City’s three middle and high schools to place their phones and “other smart technology devices” in locking signal-blocking pouches all day. There, students will carry the locked pouches with them throughout the day and open them at unlocking stations.

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