On July 2, 2025, Gov. Tina Kotek issued an executive order detailing an outline for a strict phone policy that must be adopted by all school districts in Oregon by Jan. 1.
Kotek’s order is aimed at protecting the academic nature of the school environment by keeping phones out of it. Kotek hopes to achieve this goal by mandating a strict “bell to bell” policy. The policy requires students to have personal devices locked away from the time doors open to the time doors close. In addition, the order requires the districts to provide a place for students to store their phones during the school day and arrange repercussions when the policy is violated. When it comes to how to implement these guidelines Kotek leaves it up to the districts.
As of now, Bend-La Pine Schools is planning to get rid of phone caddies and instead are asking students to keep their phones off and away in their backpacks until the school day is over.
“Instead of the phone caddies, we’re going to be switching to putting [phones] in backpacks,” said Summit Assistant Principal Jamie Brock.
Bend-La Pine Schools will be following Kotek’s “bell to bell” policy strictly by requiring students to keep their phones in their backpacks during the school day, even during passing periods and lunch.
However, Summit High School may face problems in the future trying to enforce the ban amidst busy and chaotic passing periods, with limited numbers of hall monitors.
“If we had six more campus monitors to stand out and just monitor phones out in the hallways and in the commons, we would probably be able to [enforce the phone policy] a whole lot better,” Brock said.
If a teacher, amidst the busy hallways, sees a Summit student violating the new policy, they will have their phone taken away at the first offense, the following time will include a trip to the principal and the third will include both of those plus a call or note home.
Despite plans for where students will keep their phones and how to enforce it, Bend-La Pine Schools has yet to figure out how to enforce the “bell to bell” policy in special circumstances such as traveling school teams or clubs but will continue to work out these gray areas before the deadline.
