Bullard High School considering banning student cellphones next year. What to know

Bullard High School students might be required to lock up their cellphones before school starts next year if Fresno Unified greenlights the proposed ban currently under consideration.

Nothing is set in stone yet, and any new policy would have to be vetted through the district leadership, said Fresno Unified spokesperson Nikki Henry. But leaders say the goal is to reduce distractions and the negative consequences of cell phones, like bullying on social media.

Specifically, administrators are looking at magnetically locking phone pouches produced by Yondr, the same company that entertainers like Bruno Mars and Cardi B have used at concerts to prevent audience members from using their phones and missing out on the live music experience.

The reasoning behind Bullard’s policy is not that far off from these artists’ motivation, according to school leaders.

In an interview with The Bee’s Education Lab on Friday, Bullard Principal Armen Torigian said he was partly inspired by his previous tenure as principal of Tenaya Middle School, which had a stricter no-phone policy. Students were asked to turn off their phones at the start of the school day, and though not as restrictive as the lockable pouches, he said he saw fewer students “glued to their phone” or social media.

“You see a lot more kids socializing (and) talking to one another,” he said, “not sitting by themselves and twiddling their thumbs or losing themselves in their phones.”

He also said the restriction improved Tenaya’s campus culture, as social media is at the root of a lot of bullying among students.

He’s hoping to make a similar change and improve campus culture at Bullard, where he started as principal this past school year in December after teaching there in years prior.

So what’s next? Bullard leaders are only in the early stages of exploring this new policy. Torigian plans to speak with more parents and teachers about the move in the coming weeks. He said he also hopes to put together focus groups and take parents’ questions at town hall events this summer.

One Bullard parent, who didn’t give her name, told the Ed Lab that, at this stage, she’s skeptical of whether the policy is needed and that, in this day and age, she wants to be able to communicate with her student during the day.

“It’s not 1990,” she said. Students live in a world where mass shootings on their campuses are a possibility, and they should be able to contact their parents or call 911, she added.

Teachers are also divided on the topic. In a recent Facebook post from the Fresno Teachers Association, teachers took various stances on a tweet from the organization Edutopia, asking, “In your opinion, should student cellphones be banned from classrooms?”

“The reality is if we’re preparing students for the actual real world, tech exists,” one Fresno Unified teacher responded.

“I know that I’ve had to deal with more cell phone issues since coming back on campus after distance learning than I had to deal with in the previous 20 years combined,” another FUSD teacher wrote.

The Fresno Teachers Association declined to comment.

Torigian said the proposal is not connected to the incident in a Bullard High weight room earlier this year when a photo of a student in what appeared to be a makeshift Ku Klux Klan hood circulated widely on social media.

The photo sparked system-wide protests against racism in Fresno Unified in May and brought other social media accounts to light that targeted the district’s Black students. In response, the district said they disciplined the students involved and have promised to consider the demands of Black Student Unions in the district, while questions remain about what staff would have been supervising when the photo was taken.

“It’s not a cover-up,” Torigian said. “When I got to Tenaya in 2018, they already had it as a rule.”

The policy has received vocal support from Bullard-area trustee Terry Slatic, who said the policy would help teachers with classroom management. He told the Ed Lab he “wouldn’t be shocked” if it also had a positive influence on students’ grades or rates of tardiness as well.

In terms of the target for implementation, Torigian said it might not be ready by the start of the next school year.

“I’d love for it to start when school starts, but I don’t foresee it happening probably until January when we come back from winter break,” Torigian said. “It’s going to take time to implement.”

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab at its website.