Resource Library
Life is busy. Not every parent can go to every meeting or read every book. We aim to keep this Resources page updated so you know what the latest policy decisions are and what the latest research says.
MMSD Phone Policy
The May 4, 2026 Board Meeting included a first read of the proposed phone policy, preceded by a presentation of the UW School of Public Affair's assessment of policy options. Many parents and teachers submitted comments advocating for a stricter, away-all-day policy through high school.
Although the UW study recommends a two-tiered policy that allows phone use in high school, Parent Check on Tech believes this gives too much weight to the student survey conclusion that high schoolers like having their phones.
The research actually supports a stricter, away-all-day policy for all students, and indicates that a stricter policy would increase equity in enforcement and help teachers teach and students learn. Quotes from the study:
"MMSD’s disciplinary data aligns with national data, showing that discipline disproportionately affects students of color and low-income students. The choice of device policy has direct implications for these disparities. Interviewed school staff believed that policies that keep devices on students — and therefore depend on frequent teacher-initiated discipline to enforce — are most likely to reproduce existing inequities, since every enforcement interaction is an opportunity for implicit bias."
"East teachers also reported concerns that a policy like Memorial’s, which involves a BRT member coming to class and handing out punishments such as ISS, would negatively impact the most vulnerable students and further disrupt class. Interviewees expressed that policies removing devices from the classroom entirely, through inaccessible storage, would reduce the number of enforcement interactions and therefore limit disparate discipline."
"Almost all those interviewed favored either all-day storage or a full ban, where enforcement is concentrated at the start of the day, to reduce teacher fatigue and student confrontation. Teachers asserted that the time lost to collecting devices at entry is less than the instructional time and energy currently consumed by in-class enforcement. Several expressed concern that the district’s staff survey described only a formalized status quo, and that a policy too close to current practices would not produce meaningful change. Further, all schools reported that they did not want a policy less strict than their current one."
The proposed policy is nearly identical to the current policy at West High School that is not working.
Parents and teachers are desperate for real change.
Jonathan Haidt's Golden Rules
In his book The Anxious Generation, Haidt proposes 4 cultural norm shifts he argues will lead to happier, healthier kids.
- No smartphones before high school
- No social media before 16
- Phone-free schools (sign the MMSD petition)
- More independence, free play, and responsibility in the real world
MMSD Chromebook Opt-Out Options
Contact your child's principal to opt them out of Chromebook use at any time during the school year. There is also an opt-out option during registration. You have the following options:
- No user account: Student won't be assigned a computer or have access to log into network.
- Google with no additional services: Student can use everything except for YouTube, Maps, Translate, Earth.
- All Google Services: Student can use all services from Google that are available to everyone 18 and under.
This excerpt from The Digital Delusion by Dr James Cooney Horvath can help you come up with technology solutions and guidelines that reflect your family values. These conversations are great opportunities for parents to evaluate and improve our own technology use.
Talking With Your Kids About Tech
Legislation to Watch
- Act 42 requires all Wisconsin public school boards to adopt policies prohibiting students from using wireless communication devices such as cell phones during instructional time. Assembly Bill 948 seeks to replace this mandate with a stricter ban that would prohibit smartphone use during passing periods, lunch and recess, providing phone-free schools to Wisconsin public school students.
- WI State Assembly Bill 960 would require social media platforms to provide mental health warnings.
- WI State Assembly Bill 1161 creates requirements and restrictions related to data collection and use and product design for certain businesses that provide online services to minors.
Grade: C
Strengths: Wisconsin Law explicitly prohibits gaming devices.
Opportunities: Wisconsin should amend its law to require an away-all-day policy.