Killeen ISD to implement ‘phone free’ school movement for the 2024-2025 school year

KILLEEN, Texas (KWTX) - One of the school districts with the biggest populations is Killeen ISD, and starting today they are incorporating a new phone policy that is meant to eliminate distractions for students.

The Killeen Independent School District announced it plans to remove cell phones from the school environment for the 2024-2025 school year on all secondary campuses, effectively implementing a “phone free” plan meant to “improve student engagement and mental health.”

The school district said cell phones are a constant distraction to their learning environment. To eliminate the distraction, students will put their phones in school issues pouches during school hours. The pouches will remain locked during school hours with a device similar to clothing security tags and will remain in KISD students’ possession throughout the day.

“Just ask any educator and they will tell you what a tremendous distraction cell phones have become in schools,” Dr. Susan Buckley, assistant superintendent for Administrative Services, said. “Our academic expectations for students remain high, and yet students can’t focus on their schoolwork because of this device that is competing for their attention.”

The KISD trustees approved the plan during their regular meeting on Tuesday, June 11.

Buckley said other school districts including La Vega ISD in Waco and Richardson ISD have found a ‘phone free’ environment to be successful in recapturing classroom time, improving grades and a drop in discipline issues related to cellphone use.

“Phone-free schools will allow our students to better concentrate on schoolwork,” Buckley said. “It will encourage face-to-face interactions and the development of interpersonal skills that directly impacts student success, which is the our ultimate goal.”

While KISD understands that students and parents have concerns about safety and communication during an emergency, KISD administrative director Mike Quinn says that the district wants to train students to focus in the classroom without distractions and parents can contact the districts themselves.

“Everybody is so quick to ‘well I got to text my kid’, your child is in the middle of class and we want them to get that learning, if it’s an emergency, contact our campus we will take care of it, we will get a hold of your child for you” Quinn said.

KISD said if students need to use their cell phones during the school day they must get permission and only use it in a designated phone zone where they can tap their phone to an unlocking base.

The district will submit a request from vendors to supply pouches to all secondary students. The cost is expected to be about $500,000 to outfit students at the district’s 12 middle schools, six high schools and four specialty campuses.

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