Lincoln Public Schools sees success with no-phones policy, digital hall pass system

Lincoln Public Schools this week started its second school year with a no-phone policy.

Lindsey Dresden, a science teacher at Irving Middle School, has red signs adorning her room telling students to have their phones put away.

She said when the rule wasn’t in place, students were less willing to stay off their phones. Now, they pay more attention in class.

“Kids are more focused on the lesson and what we're doing and not what's happening on their cell phones,” Dresden said.

She said student engagement has improved since the no-phone policy started.

The district is also implementing a digital hall pass system in all the middle schools this year. LPS high schools started the program last year.

Jessie Fries, director of secondary education for the district, said both policies have been successful so far.

“What we've seen early on is a decrease in negative student behaviors, an increase in student engagement and really just some improved relationships that have happened between students in the classroom, as well as between teachers and students,” Fries said.

Irving Middle School piloted the digital hall pass program this spring to help the district see how it would work at the middle school level.

Students can request a hall pass on their school computer. They get two per day, but the teacher can give them more if needed. There’s also a maximum of 16 hall passes that can be used across the building at all times. If all the hall passes are being used, the student will have to wait. The teacher can make an exception if needed, though.

Irving principal Rachael Kluck-Spann said it was a smooth transition to the new system.

“Students were taught that if the pass, if the location they were going to was full, if it was being used by other students, they just had to wait,” Kluck-Spann said. “Teachers could keep teaching. Students could keep learning, and then when the digital hall pass turned green, they could leave the classroom without disrupting learning of others or instruction.”

Only the middle and high schools have the digital hall pass, while all grade levels have a no-phone policy at LPS.