Surveys were taken, and focus group meetings held, and now the St. Paul and Mounds View school districts are narrowing in on policies aimed at limiting disruptions caused by cellphones in classrooms.

How disruptive? Nearly one in 10 students in St. Paul reported using their phones more than two hours per day at school, according to a report to school board members last week.

"This equates to around 53 school days spent on a phone during school hours," said Jodi Danielson, the district's director of schools and learning.

Still, the policy now being considered in the state's second-largest district envisions high schoolers being able to use their phones between classes and at lunch — a break from the "away for the day" policies enacted by many districts in the weeks ahead of the 2024-25 school year.

Mounds View, too, would allow middle and high school students to use phones during non-academic times under a recommendation presented to board members this month by a cellphone advisory committee. There, a majority of elementary school students, family members and staffers who were surveyed agreed phones should not be permitted in their buildings at any time.

The deliberations come in response to state legislative action requiring every district and charter school in Minnesota to establish cellphone policies by March 15, 2025.

Danielson presented her recommendations to St. Paul board members at the tail end of a six-hour meeting highlighted by the naming of Stacie Stanley as the district's next superintendent. As such, there was little discussion by board members at the time. But indications are there will be plenty of questions before the board finalizes the new cellphone rules in February.

"This is a pretty contentious conversation, and there are a lot of different viewpoints, and I want to lift up that it's going to be a shift for some of our students," Board Chair Halla Henderson said.

Research has shown that limiting cellphone access can benefit mental health and learning.

The introduction to St. Paul's proposed policy also cites the challenges posed to teaching, "including increased cheating and reduced classroom participation," the document states.

According to the proposal, phones should be left at home or locked in lockers, with exceptions made for high school students. In those cases, a team of "school stakeholders," including the principal, students, staff members and-or parents, must develop a plan allowing the devices to be used before and after school, between classes and during lunch.

The policy also dictates that parents be told to limit calling and texting their children during the day.

About one-in-five district students, staff members and family members replied to surveys ahead of the recommendation. One finding: 71% of staff members reported that cellphones were a major distraction, compared with only 7% of students.

Middle school students bristled at current restrictions in some buildings, prompting one to say about his or her school's policy: "I just wish it wasn't so strict — like what could my phone possibly be distracting me from during lunch time? My Italian dunkers??"

The comment resonated with Danielson.

"If you've had Italian dunkers, that would be a real devastating loss to not pay attention to them," she told school board members. "They're delicious."

As for consequences, the policy states they will be spelled out in the "Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook," and may include the possibility of a rule-breaker not being allowed to bring the phone to school. Consequences are to be tiered, the proposal states, and cannot include kicking a kid out of school.

The policy will take effect in September 2025. People wishing to weigh in on the proposal can do so during the public comment periods of the January and February board meetings.