Colorado School District Introduces ‘Cell Phone Expectations’ for 2025-2026 School Year

Colorado school kids see changes, its seems, every year. Weld RE-4 School District is joining other districts across the state in looking at implementing policy around kids and their cell phone use.

Technology is always evolving, growing you might say, like kids do. One day your kid is playing in the dirt and pretends to use a plastic toy phone; the next, they're actually in school with a smartwatch on their wrist and earbuds in their ears.

Colorado school districts have surely struggled to find a balance when it comes to youths and their cell phones. Weld RE-4 School District released their "expectations" in regards to "Personal Communication Devices (PCDs)" and students use of them in July of 2025.

After the 2025-2026 school year, the district will evaluate how the efforts went and make any necessary changes before bringing them to the Board of Education to make them actual policy.

How Did Weld RE-4 Come Up With Their Cell Phone Expectations?

According to a press release, the district:

… engaged in a multi-faceted process. Staff studied the data surrounding children’s cell phone use; researched other school districts’ work in this area; and gathered input from parents, students, staff, and the larger community.

In general, for all Weld RE-4 schools, cell phones will need to be powered off and stored out of sight while in class or participating in after-school activities. The older the student, the more lee-way they will receive; high schoolers will be able to use their phone in between classes, for example.

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Only high schoolers (9th-12th grade) will be able to record, video, or photograph others only if they get prior approval from an administrator and the consent of the person being recorded or photographed. For all other grades, this is not an option.

Also, across all grades, there are two PCDs that have the following restrictions:

• Smartwatches: Smartwatches must be silenced during the school day. They may be worn and used strictly as a timekeeping device. Use of a smartwatch for communication, gaming, notifications, internet browsing, or any other non-watch function during the specified restricted times will be treated as a violation of this policy and subject to the same consequences as other PCDs.

• Earbuds: Earbuds or wireless headphones must not be worn or used unless otherwise instructed by the teacher. The use of these devices without explicit permission will be treated as a violation of this policy and subject to the same consequences as other PCDs.

For all grades, there will be enforcement and consequences (first offense, second offense, third offense.)

For those of us that had our K-12 educations before any of this technology was available, it makes us wonder how technology will change things from 2025 to 2065.