For some school districts, the law won’t change a thing, given the policies they already have in place. But for many, it puts a July 2026 deadline on finding a solution to a problem that’s been getting an increasing amount of attention in recent years.
“I would recommend three Cs: clarity, communication, and consistency,” West Allis-West Milwaukee’s Alyssa Burrage told The School Perceptions Podcast in December.
Burrage, who is the WAWM Director of Teaching & Learning, made that recommendation from experience. WAWM is one of the districts that won’t need to put together a new policy this year, as their approach that bans the use of phones during the school day has been in place since spring 2021.
“The motivation behind this policy really began with welcoming students back after interrupted schooling during COVID,” Burrage said.
While WAWM was at the front of the push, districts have increasingly explored the subject in recent years, including through School Perceptions surveys. In some cases, cell phone questions are included as part of broader parent, staff, and student engagement surveys. In others, entire surveys have been dedicated to what to do about cell phones.
School Perceptions Vice President of Research Rob DeMeuse said it’s been all types of districts interested: from charter schools in other states to a mix of suburban and rural districts here.
“The breadth of school districts is pretty wide,” he said.
More recently, Wauwatosa adopted its own “away all day” policy. Wauwatosa Chief of Pupil + Family Supports Luke Pinion said the policy was ultimately informed by data and community conversations.
“As much as possible, do it ‘with,’ not ‘to,’” he said of creating and implementing a policy. “Do it collectively instead of just coming at it from one side unilaterally.”
Clarity
The first of Burrage’s “three Cs” is clarity. It’s important at multiple points in the process.
The first is even before any policy language is put together. As School Perceptions Senior Research Director and podcast host Derek Gottlieb said, everyone needs to be clear on what problem is being solved before getting into specifics. Is it distraction from class engagement? Concern about long-term psychological harms? Or social media and bullying issues?
“What is the reason that you’re implementing (this), what do you hope comes out of it?” Gottlieb said. “Because keeping your eye on that prize is going to allow you to craft a policy that is workable, that people are willing to make compromises around if they can agree on a limited goal.”
Next, it’s important the policy itself is clear about the rules, who will enforce them, and the consequences if they’re broken.
“Teachers were voicing that they wanted to make sure it was going to be followed through with consistency, that we weren’t going to leave it just to teachers to be the sole accountability-holders of this implementation,” Burrage said. “Our leaders definitely took that to heart.”
Without clarity, everyone is confused. That includes the students, according to School Perceptions survey results.
“The thing that kids are identifying is, ‘I don’t know what the rule is in this class,’” DeMeuse said.
Communication
The best way to create clarity is to communicate. And then communicate again. And maybe another dozen times in different ways.
“We have seen how it paid off to stick with it and even get more clear and then re-communicate our expectations,” Burrage said.
In Wauwatosa, Pinion said that once they had a policy, they created a precise flow-chart that outlined how violations would be handled. That flow chart was shared regularly so everyone was on the same page when the year began.
But communication can start even before a policy. Wauwatosa surveyed its students, staff, and parents and found that staff (83%) and parent respondents (71%) strongly supported a version of an “away all day” policy.
“That data was really underpinning some of the policy change,” he said.
Then, the district formed an ad-hoc committee of students, parents, staff, and administrators to gather feedback on the logistics: where should phones go? And what happens when they’re out?
With that feedback in hand, they discussed internally how the process could work inside buildings, and began communicating out the plan. That can include talking with parents about their concerns, which often center around safety.
“The number one worry for families, which is very much justified, is the safety and well-being of their child and being able to communicate with their child in the case of an emergency,” Burrage said.
However, Pinion suggested, while phones can give a “sense of safety” in emergencies, they may not be helpful to actually carry out an emergency response in the building.
“Real safety means listening to the teacher, not being on your phone, not having it ring and buzz while you’re in the middle of a crisis,” he said.
Consistency
Then comes the final step: implementing the policy. The key is consistency, both in the rules and how they’re enforced between classrooms.
It may not be easy at first.
Pinion said Wauwatosa’s data showed 149 offenses in the first week of the year. That dropped to 130 in week two, 87 in week three, and is now often in the single digits.
“Prepare for the ‘extinction burst,’” Pinion said. “Know that it’s going to be hard at first before it gets better, that’s any major change.
“Just stay the course and be consistent.”
Burrage has seen a similar pattern over the longer period of time since WAWM began its policy.
“The challenges we experienced three to four years ago are not near what we’re experiencing now, it’s a much more fluid, known practice within our district,” she said. “I think the consistency has paid off and I’m really glad we’re in the place we’re in.”
Three Key Takeaways:
1) Define the "Why" Before the "How": Before drafting policy language, districts must identify the specific problem they are trying to solve — whether it is classroom distraction, mental health concerns, or bullying — to ensure the final rules are workable and goal-oriented.
2) Prioritize Collaborative Communication: Successful policies are built "with" the community, not "to" them. Using surveys and committees to gather input from staff, parents, and students helps build the necessary buy-in to underpin major policy changes.
3) Prepare for the "Extinction Burst": Implementation is hardest at the start. However, staying consistent across all classrooms leads to a "fluid, known practice" where offenses eventually drop.
If your district is developing a policy around cell phone use, hear more from Burrage and Pinion and learn about the research on The School Perceptions Podcast. Additionally, contact us for information about a School Perceptions cell phone survey to get an idea of what your parents, staff, and students think.
The School Perceptions Resource Center features the voices of our team members. This post was written by Scott Girard, Project Manager.