San Leandro High School strives to maintain a productive and safe learning environment for all students. Cell phones are an important tool for student safety, for staying connected with family and friends, and for engaging in certain school activities. Unfortunately, if not used responsibly they can become a distraction to the learning environment and a target for theft. The purpose of this letter is to share with you changes to the cell phone policy at San Leandro High School and to re-emphasize policies and best practices that help to ensure safe and appropriate use of cell phones. Please review the following policy with your student before it takes effect on Thursday, January 10, 2019.

New Cell Phone Policy Effective Thursday, January 10, 2019

Unless otherwise specified by the teacher, cell phones* are to be

1. Turned off before entering the classroom
2. Turned off and out of sight inside the classroom
3. Not turned on until student has left the classroom

*This policy applies to earbuds/headphones, smart watches and other electronic devices.

The following disciplinary action will be applied to cell phone policy violations

1st offense: warning, parent notification

2nd offense: confiscated in office for student pick up after school; parent notification

3rd offense: confiscated in office for parent pick up
4th offense: referred to administrator for possible parent conference, suspension, or other disciplinary action for violation of Ed Code 48900(k)--Defiance/disruption

Suggestions for preventing cell phone theft

1. Cell phones should never be left out on desks, counters, benches, or other places in plain sight. The safest place for cell phones is at home. If cell phones must be brought to school, they should be left in a secure pouch in the student’s backpack, in a clothing pocket where they cannot be seen, or in the student’s hallway locker.
2. Cell phones should not be left in P.E. lockers. Students who must bring cell phones to school should leave their cell phones in their hallway lockers during P.E. Hallway lockers are more secure as hallways have security cameras. Students must always ensure their locks are correctly locked and must never share their combinations.
3. All families concerned about theft of cell phones should ensure that the cell phone has tracking and that they can access the tracking in case the phone goes missing. Families should also purchase insurance that protects against theft or loss of cell phones.

Contacting your student during the school day

We understand that emergencies come up and for this reason will assist any parent or family member needing to contact a student during the school day. Any person wishing to contact an SLHS student outside of lunch time, must call the office at 510-618-4600. The office can relay a message to the student or call the student out of class to come to the office to take the phone call. Parents/family members attempting to contact their student via cell phone should not expect to receive a response during class time and should instead instruct their student to respond during lunch time or after school.

Students contacting families during the school day

Any student who needs to contact their family during class time, must ask their teacher for a pass to the attendance or FTK office. The student will check in with the staff in the attendance or FTK office and will be allowed to make the phone call from the school phone.

Cheating on assignments and tests:

Students caught using cell phones to cheat on assignments or tests, in addition to disciplinary action steps outlined in the cell phone policy, are subject to receiving a zero for the assignment or test. Additional consequences may apply to students depending on the severity of the situation. Additionally, cheating on certain state mandated tests are subject to immediate suspension from school and/or loss of privileges.