Students and staff made adjustments this school year to follow Texas House Bill 1481.

“This year, I think I’ve seen more people going to ISS, and a lot more people being cautious,” sophomore Molly Maine said. 

Maine said she missed having access to her cell phone throughout the school day.

 “For example, when I had my medical issues, I couldn’t exactly text my dad to let him know,” she said.

Assistant principal Kristin Montague has seen more positive interactions this year.

“Without a doubt students have been more interactive,” Montague said. “They talk to each other and participate more in classroom discussion. It is interesting to see the difference between breakfast, when students are on their phones, and lunch when they are not,”

In some rooms where a strict no-phone policy has been enforced for years, not much has changed in comparison to last year.

“Not really much has changed for my particular classroom because I’ve always had a higher expectation for what the phone policy should be,” social studies teacher Colton Hinds said. “I’ve always taken up phones, but when it comes to the overall student general population, I feel like this has been a mostly positive thing,”

Students overall have been mostly compliant with the restriction, and when they violate the policy.

“Students know and understand the policy,” Montague said. “With that being said, they are compliant when they violate the policy. Our district policy is the same at the middle school and high school. This will help the future students know expectations at the high school.”