Cellphone bans and a focus on attendance: What's in store for Minnesota students this year

Back to school, ring the bell, and put the cellphones away.

A new school year kicked off Tuesday for a majority of Minnesota kids with efforts to curb classroom distractions, teach tribal histories and improve attendance. Literacy rates are also receiving increased attention.

Here is some of what's new or expanding in 2024-25:

Cellphone lockups

A growing number of the school districts are heeding calls by the state's elementary and secondary school principals to ban cellphones from classrooms, saying the move not only promotes learning but also protects student mental health.

At Andersen United Middle School in Minneapolis, kids will be required beginning next week to put their phones in school-issued Yondr pouches throughout the day.

Pouches also will be in full use next Monday at Hill-Murray School in Maplewood, which is extending its cellphone ban from middle school to high school. School President Melissa Dan told the community recently: "I am committed to placing a stake in the ground that says Hill-Murray cares about students."

Attendance matters

District leaders across the state are working to combat chronic absenteeism, defined as missing more than 10% of school days.

About three-fourths of Minnesota's students consistently attended class in 2022-23, an increase of roughly 5 percentage points from the year before, according to recently released state data. But the rate of repeated absences has remained higher than in pre-pandemic years and has risen alarmingly high for some demographic groups.

A new legislative study group is working to identify solutions and a dozen school districts across the state have started meeting monthly to share ideas and data as part of a three-year pilot program.

Efforts to boost attendance in other districts include expanding intervention programs and hiring social workers dedicated to reducing absences. Other schools are encouraging students to get involved in extracurricular activities and increasing messaging to families about why regular attendance is important.

Indigenous lessons

Tribal culture and history are making their way into the state's classrooms, and it was celebrated last week by staff members in the Roseville Area Schools.

At the district's annual workshop day, Jackie Bird, a Native singer and hoop dancer, performed, and Anton Treuer, professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University, delivered the keynote address. Instructional resources then were shared in breakout sessions by author Odia Wood-Krueger.

Gabriella Carroll, the district's American Indian education coordinator, said of the daylong collaborative effort: "One individual cannot change very much independently. It is only when a group of inspired individuals come together for all that we can plant the seed for new beginnings."

Test scores and literacy

Teachers across the state will continue receiving training this year in the phonics-based reading techniques that lawmakers and education officials hope will help boost literacy rates.

Statewide test scores in reading and math released last Thursday remained flat.

"Our systems really need to be energized in how we can get kids caught up and close achievement gaps," said Josh Crosson, executive director of the education advocacy group EdAllies, which works closely with underserved communities.

St. Paul expands offerings

Two specialty programs tailored to at-risk and immigrant students will come together under one roof on St. Paul's East Side on Tuesday when Gateway to College moves to the site of LEAP High School.

St. Paul College, the former home of Gateway, ended its partnership with St. Paul Public Schools last spring, forcing the district to shift the program and its many support staffers to one of its own buildings. Gateway seeks to re-engage dropouts and at-risk kids through courses that can earn them college credits.

The state's second-largest district has long sought to pair an academic program with LEAP, which serves students who are new to the U.S. and also seeks to prepare them for college and careers.

St. Paul also is deepening its cultural offerings by adding sixth grade to its East African Elementary Magnet School and launching a new Karen language and culture program on the North End.