The Kenai Peninsula Borough School District is considering limits on how much time students can spend using screens in classrooms. School board members got their first look Monday at a pair of proposed policies that lay out screen time caps for certain grade levels, among other sideboards.
The first proposal is a board policy describing the district’s philosophy on screen time. The second is a corresponding administrative regulation, describing how that philosophy will be implemented practically around the district.
Superintendent Clayton Holland is proposing the policy. It’s the first time the district is limiting screen time in this way.
“A lot of the school board members have expressed a desire to put some parameters on the amount of screen time that our students have in our buildings, and make sure that it's purposeful or intentional use of that time, that it has a clear meaning and something can't be met necessarily through instruction of an educator,” he said.
Holland says the policies are informed in part by school districts around the country, and by input from about a dozen district principals and administrators. He says the policies drafted independently of the Alaska Association of School Boards, which often provides model policies for districts.
The policies say technology should be used intentionally to enhance learning while preserving the “relationships, instruction, and learning experiences that have the greatest impact on student success.”
The proposed caps apply specifically to elementary students during what the district is calling routine instructional use. Holland says that’s regular classroom learning when students use personal devices like a laptop or tablet to engage with instruction. He says that includes the district’s math and language arts curriculum, which has virtual components that let students practice custom skills individually.
The new policy would not apply to statewide assessments, distance education or special education plans, among other exceptions. And it doesn’t limit teachers from using presentation tools – like the interactive flat panels found in many district classrooms.
Holland says the exceptions are important.
“If somebody reads this, they'll see if there's a certain report you're doing or something outside of that that could fit in outside of these parameters,” he said. “So built-in flexibility, but going overall, the overall intent again is intentional use and not a default for what we're doing across the board.”
The policies also say different grade levels require different technology policies. Kindergarten through fifth grade students should mostly receive teacher-directed, non-digital instruction, the policy says.
It proposes capping instructional screentime at up to 15 minutes per day for Kindergarten and first grade students and increases for each subsequent grade level up to fifth grade. The limits would be up to 20 minutes for second grade students, up to an hour for third grade students and up to 90 minutes for fourth and fifth grade students.
The district is not proposing a per-grade level screen time cap for sixth through twelfth grade students because instruction varies so widely among students. But the policy clearly says technology should not serve as the default method of instruction.
The policy designates school principals as the primary enforcer of the new rules, tasking them with monitoring technology use in their schools, communicating expectations with families and reviewing best practices with staff.
Will Chervenak is the assistant principal at Kenai High School and supports the proposed changes.
“I really like the fact that this is a delineation that really defines our district and our ethos and the way that we think about high quality instruction and relationships and a focus on here in the district,” he said.
Board members seemed generally supportive of the policies, though some said it could be more concise in some areas. And some suggested the policies be more restrictive in some areas.
Mica VanBuskirk represents the eastern Kenai Peninsula. She thinks the policy should also restrict the use of personal devices during free time during the school day.
“I think that's a really important broad philosophy,” she said. “I know it's like plugging kids into phones or movies or TVs during lunchtime is a problem in some areas.”
Both of the policies presented Monday are subject to additional review by the school board’s Policy Committee. The policies require approval by the full board before going into effect.
