Spotlight Schools Newsletter Sept. 6, 2024
📱 O.C. Districts Enact Cellphone Limits // 💵 Which District Spends More than $30K Per Student? // 🚸 Parents Demand Return of School Crossing Guards in Orange
THE LATEST ON TK-12 EDUCATION IN ORANGE COUNTY
In this newsletter: new cellphone rules for students are coming. Last week, the California legislature passed the Phone-Free Schools Act which would require districts and charter schools to enact policies restricting cellphone use by students during school hours by 2026. The bill is expected to be signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. But, as you can read below, some districts in Orange County, including the Fullerton School District, are already rolling out new measures to curb cellphone use by kids.
Plus: find out why some O.C. public school districts spend twice as much as others per student. Also, a school crossing guard program in Orange was cut due to a budget crisis. Now some Orange Unified School District parents say the streets are not safe for students.
And as of this week, all 28 Orange County public school districts have officially kicked off the 2024-25 school year. Check out our Q&A with the Westminster School District superintendent outlining the goals for the year.
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O.C. Districts Limit Students' Cellphone Use During School Day
This back-to-school season could be a tipping point for how cellphones are used on TK-12 campuses in Orange County.
Over the summer, the K-8 Fullerton School District passed new rules that require students’ personal devices to be turned off, or placed in airplane mode, and put away for the entire school day.
Signs now greet students at every FSD campus with the message: “Personal devices away, every single day; Let’s talk to each other.”
"We have this really great opportunity to create boundaries and set really healthy standards for the ways that we interact with technology and the ways that we use smartphones," said Ruthi Hoffman Hanchett, a member of the Fullerton School District Board of Trustees who pushed for the new policy.
The FSD is not alone. The Capistrano Unified School District, the county's largest district, expanded a pilot program to all secondary schools and four K-8 schools where students store their phones in "pocket charts" upon entering classrooms.
The Newport-Mesa Unified School District updated its policy last October. The new rules bar TK-8th graders from using devices on campus. High school students must have their devices turned off during instructional time, but they can access them in an emergency and some other circumstances.
Lawmakers locally, and across the nation, are passing similar restrictions. They are motivated, in part, by growing concerns and research showing cellphone use, and social media apps on phones, can negatively impact kids' mental health, academic performance, and development. (See coverage of Jonathan Haidt's book "The Anxious Generation" for a deeper dive.)
There are also worries that the devices are a major distraction in the classroom, buzzing and dinging with alerts, and can also lead to cyberbullying. On the other hand, citing safety concerns, parents argue they have a right to be able to contact their children on their personal devices during the school day.
In the Los Alamitos Unified School District, some parents are pushing for a districtwide cellphone policy to be implemented sooner rather than later. A petition that has been circulating online since August 14 reads, in part: "We are deeply concerned about the detrimental impact of excessive social media use and cell phone access during school hours on our children’s mental health and academic well-being."
It encourages parents to speak to the school board at its September 10 meeting.
At the board’s August 27 meeting, Superintendent Andrew Pulver, Ed.D., dedicated part of his report to review existing school-based cellphone policies that can be found in a school's Parent/Student Handbook.
“[The policies] really are consistent in terms of restricting cellphone use, and this has been for numerous years at the elementary and middle schools,” Dr. Pulver said. “They cannot be used during school hours.” The rules are slightly different at Los Alamitos High School where students can use cellphones during passing periods, nutrition, and lunch.
Lori Livingston, M.D., a pediatrician, district parent, and organizer of the petition, said existing school-based policies are not effective. She cited a recent incident where her 7th grade son was photographed during class and the image was sent to her 9th grade daughter.
“This shouldn’t be happening. They are taking pictures of other kids and sharing them with other kids during class,” Dr. Livingston wrote in a text message.
In his board report, Dr. Pulver recognized that the community has differing views on this issue and that there needs to be a multi-pronged approach that includes partnering with families. The district is hosting a parent workshop on healthy tech habits on Sept. 12. All 6-12th grade students will also take part in an assembly on the topic.
“We understand that there is no one-size-fits-all solution, as this topic extends beyond the school environment and into the home,” Dr. Pulver said in an email to Spotlight Schools. “However, we remain dedicated to working closely with our families to find balanced and effective strategies that promote both the well-being and academic success of our students.”
Read the whole story on SpotlightSchools.com.
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Community Demands School Crossing Guards be Reinstated by City of Orange
The Orange City Council voted to eliminate the program to address a $19 million budget shortfall
Parents in the Orange Unified School District are voicing concerns after the Orange City Council eliminated crossing guards at schools within the city to help address a $19 million budget shortfall.
At the August 27 Orange City Council meeting, around a dozen speakers urged city leaders to reconsider the decision.
Scott Resnick, an OUSD parent, told the council during public comment, "I've lived in Orange for most of my life, and ironically, the only time I've not felt safe here was this past week when I took my son to and from school and watched families play real life Frogger across Hewes and Esplanade." OUSD campuses started the school year on August 21. Resnick requested the immediate rehiring of the city’s 14 part-time crossing guards.
The council initially voted to eliminate the crossing guard program at its June 11 meeting to save an estimated $425,000. Orange Mayor Dan Slater explained to KTLA: “[The deficit] is not anything new – we’ve had budget deficits going back to about 2010 – but we are finally trying to address that. Tough times call for tough measures, and we can’t spend money we don’t have.”
Only the Orange Unified campuses within the City of Orange are impacted. "While the absence of crossing guards in Orange poses a challenge, the combined efforts of parents, schools, and the community can help maintain pedestrian safety, especially during school hours," OUSD spokesperson Hana Brake told ABC7.
At the August 27 meeting, councilmembers directed city staff to bring back a detailed breakdown of the costs of the crossing guard program for discussion at the Sept. 10 meeting.
Read more at SpotlightSchools.com.
Which O.C. Districts Spend the Most Money on Students?
Orange County Register opinion columnist Teri Sforza recently examined the spending disparities among Orange County’s 28 public school districts and what that means for student achievement.
Her opinion piece looked at data from the California Department of Education including:
- Districts' per-pupil spending that is based on Average Daily Attendance (ADA)
- Students' performance on California’s standardized tests for math and English/Language Arts
Here’s what she found: While per-pupil spending is important, poverty levels of students' families appear to play a bigger role in student achievement on state tests. Districts with more students qualifying for free and reduced-price meals scored lower on state tests. But there were some exceptions.
On average, Orange County’s public school districts spent around $18,130 per student, but more than half spent less than that.
The biggest spenders were the Laguna Beach Unified School District ($31,596 per child) and Newport-Mesa Unified School District ($23,640 per child).
It’s worth noting that Laguna Beach Unified and Newport-Mesa Unified are the only two districts in the county that rely on locally-generated taxes for funding because it's greater than the base funding amount guaranteed by the state.
O.C.’s other 26 districts are Local Control Funding Formula districts. They rely on state dollars based on ADA and the composition of their student populations, earning more funding if they serve students who are foster children, unhoused, or English language learners.
Laguna Beach Unified had among the highest student achievement levels on state tests and one of the lowest poverty levels in Orange County. Newport-Mesa Unified had a poverty level that was more than twice the rate of Laguna Beach Unified. Student test scores were much lower, but still above the state average.
Districts with similar spending levels as Newport-Mesa Unified but much higher poverty rates, including Anaheim Elementary School District ($23,220 per child) and Santa Ana Unified ($22,878 per child), had lower rates of students meeting state standards.
Interestingly, the Garden Grove Unified School District ($20,486 per child) had one of the highest poverty rates in the county, but student achievement levels were on par with Newport-Mesa Unified.
Another interesting finding: The Los Alamitos Unified School District ($15,213 per child), Fountain Valley School District ($14,794 per child) and Irvine Unified School District ($14,211 per child) ranked in the bottom for per-pupil spending, yet their students’ test scores were among the highest in the region. The districts also had among the lowest percentages of students qualifying for free/reduced meals in the county.
“The exceptional performance of Los Alamitos Unified and Fountain Valley Elementary, despite their lower spending compared to other districts, suggests that factors like effective administration, teaching quality and community support play significant roles in success,” Sforza writes.
See a table showing data for all 28 districts below. Read Sforza's entire column and analysis at The O.C. Register.
Q&A: Westminster School District Superintendent Shares Vision for the New School Year
The Westminster School District kicked off the 2024-25 school year on August 28. Thousands of pre-school, elementary, and middle school students returned to the district’s 17 campuses to start a fresh season of learning.
Superintendent Gunn Marie Hansen, Ph.D., recently sat down with Spotlight Schools for a 30 minute interview. Dr. Hansen, who has been in her position since 2023, shared the district’s goals for the new school year, building on its six-year WSD Inspires! Strategic Plan that was passed in August 2023.
The goals are lofty and include: investing heavily in arts education, modernizing early childhood programs, expanding community schools, and empowering educators to harness the benefits of Artificial Intelligence.
Read the full Q&A at SpotlightSchools.com.
ICYMI: Orange County's new Superintendent of Schools talks about his vision for leadership.
John Fensterwald - EdSource
Other Stories We're Reading
Note: some links may have a paywall or require a subscription to read.
- Huntington Beach moves to adopt law to require adults working at city facilities to inform parents if their children are transgender // Voice of OC
- Los Alamitos HS water polo coach resigns five games into boys the season // The O.C. Register
- O.C. Supt. of Schools taps Dennis Cole to serve in newly created chief of staff position // OCDE Newsroom
- Jewish advocacy groups allege antisemitism behind Santa Ana’s ethnic studies rollout // Daily Pilot
- After families speak out, Laguna Beach Unified allows Special Education students to attend high school of their choice // The O.C. Register
- O.C. program Inside the Outdoors celebrates 50th Anniversary // OCDE Newsroom
- Newport-Mesa Unified approves AI-enhanced surveillance feature Daily Pilot
- Orange County Board of Education joins legal challenge to California’s new gender identity law // The O.C. Register
- Ocean View School District committee recommends the sale of two sites // Daily Pilot
- O.C. high school hosts 'Draft Day' to pair students with companies for unique work-study program // ABC7
- CDC says kids with head lice can now stay in school // NPR
- ParentingOC releases Readers’ Choice Awards for Best Schools and School Districts // ParentingOC (starts on Page 32)
ICYMI: Read the latest story from Editorial Intern Katie Arnoult about why more high school students are opting to take summer school.
Katie Arnoult - Editorial Intern
Celebrating the New School Year!
If you're like me, your Instagram feed has been filled with back-to-school pictures for weeks. In Orange County, thousands of students from Santa Ana to Seal Beach are embarking on another year of learning as the 2024-25 academic year begins.
The OCDE Newsroom has been compiling pictures from across the region, capturing parents/guardians, kids, and school staff welcoming the start of a new year, fresh with possibilities for learning, growth, and fun. Click here, or on the image above, to see the excitement of back-to-school season from across O.C.
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Editor's Note: This newsletter was updated to reflect the correct grade level of Dr. Livingston's son.