Lake Holcombe School Board - Next year’s going to see changes with the use of cell phones

Corrine Prince, reading specialist, spoke June 16, at the Lake Holcombe School Board meeting, about what is being done to help students meet gaps in reading throughout the year. Prince is already looking to adjust intervention for the fall, to get students on the right track. Photo by Joy Dain

By Ginna Young

Cell phones are just part of the world we live in today, but they probably aren’t going to be part of the Lake Holcombe School District. At the June 16, board of education meeting, a discussion was held on banning the devices.

“We are anticipating we’ll need a different direction, with our cell phone policy for next school year,” said district administrator Kurt Lindau.

At the state level, there might be a law in the very near future, banning phones from schools, statewide, so Lake Holcombe is not out of line with the current trend happening. It’s become apparent that phones in schools are detrimental to learning, as well as affecting student emotions.

There’s just one question to be asked.

“How much is too much?” said Lindau. It’s recommended that from an early age, children not be exposed to screen time, meaning no TV, tablet or phone, while elementary age children should be limited to one hour a day. As for middle and high school students, they are experiencing cyber bullying and displaying aggressive behavior, as a result of social media time.

In the past, the district has limited WiFi for the students during the school day, as a way to combat the use of phones, with teachers consistently finding that students are on their devices, instead of being present in class.

“They’re just sick of fighting them,” said Lindau. Principal Chris Stahlheim pointed out that even outside of school hours, such as a basketball game, students are on their phones, not interacting with each other, using social and emotional skills.

“Sure they feel connected…but they’re not talking to each other,” he said.

More about the upcoming change will happen over the next couple meetings, with board member Jamie Tester-Morfoot requesting that the district make sure parents know of a different way to contact their kids during the school day.

Lindau also reported that while they hoped the in-progress satellite fire station would reclass the school for its fire code, until the station is built, and is up and running, with data and response time numbers in front of them, they are stuck with the code they have. That means insurance rates will not go down, until that fire rating improves.

“It can only get better, it can’t get any worse,” said board president Brian Guthman.

Also reported on, was the achievement gap reduction (AGR), from reading specialist Corrine Prince.

“Our math scores are much stronger than our reading scores,” said Prince.

Reading is improving overall, annually, but the universal testing three times a year, that is conducted, is showing mixed results. Winter testing has higher marks for reading, than spring and fall.

“Ultimately, what we’re seeing, is that we need continued professional development, for our reading and writing skills,” said Prince, adding that they are already tailoring next year’s intervention plans accordingly. “We have a really good program, we just need to make sure, that when students are at various levels, we have more of the background, more of the skills for how to help a student progress, when they might not be meeting grade level bench marks.”

During the meeting, the purchase of a Vulcan countertop convection steamer was agreed on, for $11,235, from Benedict Refrigeration. The old steamer quit working and would cost half as much as new one to fix, plus, it’s at least 10-15 years old.

Members also approved the resignation of assistant baseball coach Andrew Johnson and agreed on the hire of a school nurse.

They also accepted $1,159, from Phat Bob’s, split in varying amounts, to the archery, cross country, band, baseball and softball programs, and the sawmill project; $500, from Trademark Custom Cabinets, to the baseball program; and $300, from Jesse Jones Construction, to the sawmill project.