PRESCOTT – The Prescott School Board unanimously approved a policy Aug. 19 banning the use of all personal communication devices (PCDs) bell-to-bell during the instructional school day, which goes into effect for this school year. Students will be required to power off and turn their phones, Smartwatches, Airpods, etc. into designated storage places at the beginning of each day and will get them back at the end of the school day.

An amendment made to the policy clarifies that principals have the right to give students permission to use cell phones for specific events that are not already covered by law (IEPs medical, emergency, special class project), said Supt. Jim Reif.

The other change is that an administrator "may" hold onto the phone for parent pick up if it needs to be confiscated from a student not following the rules.

“Each building will be slightly different on discipline based on students’ developmental level,” Reif said. “However, we have had cell phone consequences in place for many years. In general, we will teach and coach first and foremost then like most other issues, detention and in-school suspension may follow. We do not see any case where cell phone use by itself would lead to out-of-school suspension and never to expulsion.”

Prescott High School Principal Joshua Fiege said about 25 people recently attended an information session on the proposed policy at the Back-to-School Bash. He gave the board a quick overview, similar to the July board meeting presentation, on what increased screen time does to teens.
“As the rate of device usage increases, so do rates of bullying, anxiety and depression,” he said. “At the same time, health outcomes, academic performance and emotional growth diminish.”

Wisconsin Act 42 requires all public school boards to adopt a policy prohibiting students from using a wireless communication device, other than a school district-issued device, during instructional time. A school board can adopt a more restrictive policy than required by state law.

Twenty-eight states have already passed a “bell-to-bell” ban. Before the law passed, 20.75% of Wisconsin’s 421 districts had full bans in place, while 9.7% had no restrictions at all, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum.

Administration proposed in July the following cell phone policy:

“In order to maintain an educational environment that promotes student learning, minimizes distractions, protects student privacy and supports student well-being, students shall not possess, carry or have access to personal communication devices during the instructional school day.

“All student PCDs must be powered completely off (i.e. not merely placed in silent or vibrate mode) and secured in the manner designated by the district before the beginning of the instructional day. Students may be required to check their PCD into a school-approved storage location or other district designated secure storage system. Once secured, students may not retrieve, possess, access or use their PCDs until the conclusion of the instructional day or as otherwise authorized by school administration.”

This also includes Smartwatches, Airpods, etc., not just cell phones.

Educational researcher John Hattie detailed that as smartphone use rises, academic performance declines on both daily assignments and high-stakes exams. Research also shows that student performance declines when students know their phone is nearby, such as in their pocket, backpack or locker.

Fiege recommended reading “The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt or “The Digital Delusion” by Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath, which shows the damaging effects of too much screentime.

“Since about 2008 to 2010, the data has shown something really, really jarring,” Fiege said.

“Up until that point, every single generation has outpaced their parents and the previous generation in terms of cognition, literacy, numeracy, cognitive thinking, high order thinking. And all of a sudden for the first time ever, this past generation has actually underperformed in every metric of cognition than the previous generation.”

Parents have seemed to be in support but questioned why kids can’t have it at lunch, Fiege said.

“Not only would it be logistically difficult, plus knowing you’ll have phone access triggers craving. Every instance you look at your phone, it takes your brain 23 minutes to get back into ‘deep learning mode,’” he said. “That’s an interesting statistic for us at the high school because it means coming back from lunch, students would essentially lose about half of the learning in their next period.”

He added that states that have passed the bell-to-bell ban, such as Florida, have reported seeing as much as 11 hours of learning reclaimed per week.

Common concerns brought up by parents included family communication (pick up times, schedule changes, athletics), which was by far the most asked, school safety and device safety.

Parents expressed support for improved classroom focus, improved mental health/fewer bullying opportunities, social growth, achievement and evidence-based research.

Fiege said parents will have to get used to using the front office staff to communicate with their child if needed, or make plans clear in the morning before school. Not only does email allow for quick communication with staff, but staff can get messages to students at appropriate times and offer support if needed. If students need to discuss something privately, they can use an office or conference room.

In grades K-5, PCDs will be collected by the classroom teacher and secured for the day. Teachers will return them at the end of the day. Teachers will be the only ones to have access and to redistribute. Parents will be called to come pick up confiscated devices.

At the middle school, PCDs will be collected in TA. Students will return to their TA rooms before they leave the building to pick up their PCDs. These will be brought to the office to be stored for the day. Parents will be called to come pick up confiscated devices.

At the high school, students will turn in their devices during Cardinal time, which will then be placed in storage container in a locked office; they’ll be returned at end of the day Cardinal time.

If a student knows they are leaving early that day, their phone should be taken to the office in the morning so they can retrieve it before they leave without causing any classroom disruptions.

Board Vice President Tonya Holub said routines will need to change, but this can help kids’ autonomy.

“I think there’s some part of it where parents are just like in a stuck spot themselves,” Holub said.

Pat Block said parents have supported it more than he originally thought they would.

Fiege said he believes it will become more difficult as time goes on for students to sneak them in. He believes enforcing the policy will be more consistent across the district now with a time specifically set aside for phone collection instead of per class.

“I said it last month and I’ll say it again publicly,” Board President Mike Matzek said. “I wasn’t on board with this when I heard it…I think it’s a really great example of how I think we can work together to come up with the best solutions for our students.”

Neola board policies

The board heard a first reading on the following proposed updated board policies:

5510 – Dress and Appearance, support handbook language

“By making it a board policy, it gives it a little more weight, a little more gravitas,” Reif said.

5514 – Use of Personal Transportation Devices. Needed due to increase of e-bike and e-scooter use. The max speed allowed on school district property will be 10 mph.

“Talking with our principals, we haven’t had a whole lot of issues, but as the explosion of e-scooters and e-bikes…I think we need to adopt this policy because it will give us the option to enforce it,” Reif said. \

7440.03 – Small Unmanned Aircraft (drones). These will require permission from the district administrator to fly them over school grounds, though the WIAA has their own rules for sporting events. Law enforcement would have authority in emergency situations. The district is trying to prevent people from flying them recreationally over district property during the school days. All reasonable requests would be granted, such as filming the Color Run.

8462.01 – Threats of Violence – Required reporting by state law.

AI Policy

The board heard a first reading of a set of policies related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) use.

“Our general vision is that the student AI is going to be limited as much as practical. This does not include spell check, etc.” Reif said.

Unless the teacher directs it specifically, students won’t be using AI, Reif said. Staff use must be transparent and noted. The majority of work needs to be completed by humans. Reif said he expects to bring the topic back to the board about every six months due to rapid changes in the technology.

Northwest Journeys

The board approved the Northwest Journey Memorandum of Understanding. NJ plans to expand its services to 15-18-year-olds in its Prescott location, which is currently housed in the Malone Intermediate School building at 125 Elm St. N.

According to its website, Northwest Journey provides children’s mental health day treatment for more than 200 children and families in 11 Wisconsin communities. The program plans to add spaces for five students ages 15-18 who have no history of aggression.

“I have been so impressed every time I’ve been over to Northwest Journey,” Reif said. “The care, the compassion, most of all the skill they have to help these students grow and learn is excellent.”

The board will hear an update on the expanded program’s first few months in December; it has the right to terminate the program in January if it’s not going well.

Middle School girls wrestling

Prescott Head Wrestling Coach Nick Zajac and Activities Director Matt Smith proposed adding a middle school girls standalone wrestling season, which the board approved. Smith said girls wrestling is one of the fastest growing high school sports across the nation; the first WIAA girls wrestling tournament was held last year.

“We want to create a program and environment with support and more comfort for a true program feel,” Smith said.

The season will occur in November and December; girls will be allowed to wrestle during the boys regular season from January to March as well, as in years past.

The start-up cost of the program is estimated at $5,000. Next steps will include hiring coaches, recruiting participants, creating excitement and getting events scheduled.

Personnel report

The board approved the following personnel changes:

Hires – Janie Whitebear, PHS instructional assistant; Alexis Gilles, Malone instructional assistant; Anne Kressly, PHS library aide; Rita Johnson, Malone instructional assistant

Resignations – Val Degezzale (PHS food service); Holly Cramer Anderson (PHS food service); Amanda Petersen, Malone instructional assistant

Retirement – Gary Hartung, bus driver

Other business

• The Cardinal Champion for August is Administrative Assistant Abbi Nawrocki, who helped conduct research for the new cell phone policy.
• The Prescott High School Student Council elected Payge Haupt as the 2026-27 school board student representative.
• Prescott Food Service reported serving 31,402 meals over eight weeks this summer, an average of 275 children each Thursday.
• The Prescott School Board annual meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Sept 16, followed by the regular board meeting no earlier than 7 p.m.