A staff survey of Iowa City Community School District assessed the implementation of their new cellphone policy showing overall improvement in the categories of “student engagement” and “ability to teach and support students,” along with a stated increase in overall student focus.

Lucas Ptacek, the Iowa City Community School District’s chief human resources officer, and Brady Shutt, grades 7-12 social studies curriculum coordinator, gave an update after the implementation of the district’s new cellphone use policy — which went into effect in the beginning of January — during Tuesday’s school board meeting.

“One of our highlights was that 88 percent of the respondents to a March survey [of] secondary staff members cited the policy as either effective or highly effective,” Shutt said.

The data, coming from the past nine weeks of the spring semester, showed a decrease in cellphone policy infractions as the weeks progressed. In the first week of implementation, secondary schools had 434 infractions. In week nine, there were only 168 infractions.

Shutt said the district has been effective in communicating their new expectations to students, which has translated to effective initial implementation of the policy.

“I think that we’re doing a good job of reteaching and holding them accountable to our expectations,” he said.

Additionally, most students who received an infraction only received one, according to the school board’s data. A total of 1,088 students across the district have received a single infraction, and 439 have received two or more.

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Student feedback, received from a superintendent advisor group of the district’s juniors and seniors, suggested the policy is working. Ptacek said students noted while they have seen relatively consistent implementation so far, the policy loses its effectiveness when faculty do not enforce it equally.

Ptacek explained some spots of growth offered by students, including better accommodations surrounding the policy for students with 504 and IEP plans — which are made to assist students with disabilities — and the need for devices for research or class-related purposes.

Both of these areas are highlighted directly in the policy as having potential exemptions and accommodations, information which Ptacek said may not have been clearly communicated to students at the time.

The policy is interpreted by the district to be in compliance with House File 782, a bill that was passed by the Iowa House and Senate and is waiting to be signed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. If signed, the bill establishes a minimum policy standard all school districts must adopt, restricting the use of cellphones during instructional classroom time beginning July 1, 2025.