The hustle and bustle of students is back at Sage Creek High School in Carlsbad.
But the buzzing of smart phones is not — kind of.
"We'd been hearing from some teachers and from parents that phones seemed to be a distraction in class. So our school board was interested to know if there is a way to address this," said Ben Churchill, the superintendent for Carlsbad Unified School District.
He says the school board approved cell phone restrictions ahead of the new school year.
"At elementary and middle school, the phones are supposed to be silent and out of sight all day long," he said. "They (students) can certainly bring them with them, but they need to stay in a backpack or in a pocket, not used even during breaks and recess and lunch."
But for high schools, cell phone use is allowed during breaks or with a teacher's permission.
"We've asked our teachers to clarify ... when is it appropriate to use a cell phone for an instructional purpose. That's the part that might not have been as clear in the past," said Sage Creek High School principal Josh Wayedd.
He said some classes, like multimedia journalism and digital media, can benefit from cellphone use.
"Cell phones are a tremendous resource with film editing and communication and marketing. And so they still have an important use in this learning environment, but it's clarifying with students what those are," he said.
Ignoring the new restrictions can lead to teachers confiscating the phone, which Wayedd says has yet to happen.
But Carlsbad isn't the only school district implementing cell phone restrictions.
Last week, the San Diego Board of Supervisors approved a policy for mental health experts to help school districts curb cellphone use in schools.
The policy includes a $100,000 grant for lockable phone pouches and lockers.
"This is all about tackling head on the mental health crisis facing our young people, and that social media and smartphones, in an unrestricted way, is part of that," said District 3 supervisor, Terra Lawson-Remer. "What we're really talking about is how we can be partners to our principals, our parents and our schools to come up with holistic policies."
Eligible school districts include San Diego, Coronado, Poway, Carlsbad and San Dieguito.
