After some Coeur d’Alene students experienced their first school day without cellphones Monday, the board of trustees defended the new procedure that drew pushback from more than 1,700 community members.

While Superintendent Shon Hocker and trustees thanked students and the community for engaging on the issue, they emphasized their concern that screen time negatively impacts mental health and that cell phones are often involved in bullying.

High school students said they understand that phones are a distraction in class but that if they’re supposed to be learning to be responsible adults, they should be allowed to manage their phone usage outside of class.

Trustees agreed to monitor how the procedure works and revisit it in April.

The district implemented a ban in recent weeks on personal electronic devices from the start of the school day until dismissal, including lunch and passing periods. After the plan was announced, Ryan Drappo a 16-year-old student at Coeur d’Alene High School, created a petition opposing the passing period and lunchtime ban, which now has 1,767 signatures.

“The new PED policy put in place by the district is unreasonable,” Drappo told the trustees Monday.

He went on to argue that phones are tools that students use to socialize, work and communicate with the world around them, not just a distraction.

“Restricting devices is not a way to raise mature adults,” he said, before turning to what a petitioner said. “These kids have responsibilities outside of school that require their attention sometimes.”

Kaylyn Bailey, the freshman city council representative at Lake City High School, shared her concerns with the trustees.

“We believe phones should be allowed in school and teachers deciding when they can be used in class,” Bailey said.

Bailey said her older brother was at school when a shooting took place in Oregon and that cell phones were “the lifeline for students” during the incident.

Trustees and district leadership noted that students can still have their cellphones in their pocket or backpack during school as long as they are off and in the event of a lockdown can use their phones to communicate with loved ones.

Theresa Moran, an instructor in the Project Search program, where she teaches job skills, also spoke against the total ban.

A few years ago she instituted a cellphone basket in her classroom.

“It worked great until my first intern got his job over the summer,” Moran said. “He quickly lost his job because I did not teach responsibility with a cellphone.”

She argued that letting students use phones at lunch is the middle ground to keep them focused on learning while having the opportunity to be responsible and prepare them for the workforce.

“It could be when they’re on the job that an employer is having the struggle of trying to teach that skill of how to be responsible with a cell phone,” Moran said.

Trent Derrick, executive director of secondary education, read a statement to the board covering why administrators feel the procedure is important.

“This cell phone conversation reminds me of a quote to ‘Every man is given the key to the gates of heaven, the same key opens the gates of hell.'” Derrick said. “The late physicist… Richard Feynman’s, words remind us that the most powerful tools we possess can either serve us well or they can hinder us, depending on how they’re used.”

He pointed to research that overuse of cellphones is dangerous to the developing mind and can lead to poor mental health. Local employers want students who can have meaningful face to face conversations, which Derrick argued means schools need to push students to disengage from their phones and engage with each other.

“Our goal, and I want to emphasize this, is not to become the cellphone police,” Derrick said.

Trustee Healther Tenbrink said she shares student concerns about lunch restrictions but also supports administrators who have pushed for the total ban. Tenbrink said she is open to revisiting the procedure after trying current iteration for a few months.

Trustee Lesli Bjerke emphasized that the procedure isn’t “punitive” or intended to make students’ lives miserable.

“My hope is that we try it,” Bjerke said. “We just want the best for our students. We want them academically strong, we want them mentally strong.”

Chair Rebecca Smith asked district leadership to come back with an update in April following a series of forums with students to discuss the policy.

Drappo, who attended the meeting with his parents, said he’s glad the school board is open to further discussion but that they aren’t thinking enough about the negative consequences of the policy and are only focusing on the positive.

No matter the outcome, though, his parents Jeff and Shannon Drappo said they’re proud of their son starting the petition and being civically engaged. They’re so proud that Shannon attended the school board meeting on her birthday.