KUNC - District 91��Ƭistration

Colorado schools roll out stricter cellphone bans ahead of state deadline

Tue, 19 May 2026 12:19:56 +0000

From locked pouches to bell-to-bell bans, Colorado schools are cracking down on cellphone use in the classroom as districts prepare to comply with a new state law by July 1.

House Bill 1135, also known as the Communication Devices in School bill, was passed in 2025 as an attempt to remove classroom distractions that were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill was also pitched as a pathway to mitigating negative mental health impacts from excessive screen time and social media use.

Sponsored by Rep. Meghan Lukens, a Steamboat Springs Democrat, the bill gave school districts until July 1, 2026, to develop and post individual policies on their website regarding cellphone use during school hours, with exemptions for students with disabilities or medical needs.

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Facial recognition technology adds safeguards at some Colorado schools. It also raises questions about civil rights

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 13:38:32 +0000

A handful of Colorado schools monitor their students with cameras that use facial recognition software. It’s a security measure: An administrator with access to the technology can upload a student’s photo and then the system can use cameras around the school to pinpoint the student’s location.

More school districts across the state have been exploring whether to adopt this technology, the Denver Post has reported.

A bill at the state legislature would regulate how the technology can be used in the state’s schools at a time when more districts have considered adopting the technology. The debate underlines a conflict between supporters who say it helps make schools safer and opponents who call it a violation of students’ civil rights.

Some students may have lost their ‘grit.’ Can teachers and parents help bring it back?

Fri, 03 Jan 2025 15:29:57 +0000

Colorado teachers say their students are missing something that helps determine their academic success. Call it grit.

If a student who struggles with math studies hard and performs well on their math test, that’s grit. If they complete a homework assignment that was tough to finish, that’s also grit.

Erica Breunlin covers education for The Colorado Sun. Since the pandemic, she says teachers have told her they’re seeing less grit in the classroom. And that’s leading to lower test scores for K12 students.

Chronic absenteeism is plaguing Colorado schools. Here’s what two districts are doing about it.

Wed, 03 Jan 2024 15:57:02 +0000

This past academic year, nearly one in three students in Colorado were chronically absent, missing at least ten percent of school days, according to data collected by the Colorado Department of Education. The reasons vary by child and by district – from a lack of transportation to social anxiety. As schools across Colorado see , administrators are working to figure out why kids are skipping school and what to do about it.

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