Minnesota
Minnesota schools begin implementing new cell phone policies
Maple Grove, Minn. — As students head back to class across Minnesota this week, they’ll find new expectations regarding cell phones and other electronic devices.
“The kids are there to learn. So, it’d be a good idea to focus on the learning and what teachers are trying to teach them,” said Jamie Skjerseth of Maple Grove.
The Minnesota legislature mandated school districts adopt a clear cell phone policy by March 2025.
It also required two principals’ organizations to design a new model policy that districts could adopt.
The resulting “Cell Phone Tool Kit,” released in July, suggests that all classrooms be phone free with few exceptions.
“This year they’re pushing it to where you can’t have phones during school hours at all. Not even during lunch or their walking hours in between classes,” explained Karin Sayler of Otsego.
Sayler supports the change for her middle school son.
“He has kids in his class that will actually use it and it distracts him a lot,” she said.
The toolkit also spells out an alternative for high schoolers.
“We cannot have them in the classroom. We have to put them in these phone holders and then we can have them in the hallway or at lunch,” said incoming Rogers High School freshman Grace Hobbins.
Hobbins has mixed feelings about her school’s new policy.
“In high school, I feel like we’re old enough to control ourselves,” she said.
“I’m not going to lie, I do like to be able to text my kids at school,” said Amelia Hobbins, Grace’s mom.
It’s a concern Maple Grove High School addressed in a letter to parents last month, saying in part:
“Students will be able to use their cell phones during passing times and lunch – added together, this amounts to 55 minutes each day! They’ll be just fine.”
Grace’s mom, Amelia, will miss the convenience but agrees that it’s needed to limit distractions, boost learning, and improve kids’ mental health.
“At the end of the day, they should keep the phones in their locker,” she said.
Meteorological summer kicks off June 1 and lasts through August. So, is the heat here to stay in Minnesota?
With temperatures near 90 lately, summer is on everyone’s mind. The outlook from the Climate Prediction Center says it’s a toss-up when it comes to temperatures over the three-month season.
“We’re going into an El Niño, and probably a very strong one, or a super El Niño, as they say,” said Pete Boulay, a climatologist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. “And looking at past history, might be a cooler-than-normal summer. But we’ll have to wait and see what happens. If you stay dry, it’s going to be hard to stay cool.”
And no doubt, Minnesota has been dry already with drought conditions persisting across northern and southwestern parts of the state.
“Most places in the state are about 1-3 inches short of normal for May, and right about this time of year, we should get about an inch of rain a week,” Boulay said. “Every time we don’t get that rain, every week that goes by, the drought will come back.”
The summer outlook says it is more likely that conditions remain drier than average through August. Though we’re past the majority of Minnesota’s wildfire season, Boulay said if conditions are right, that could create elevated fire threats, unless you’re lucky enough to see some rain.
“We’re in that kind of lazy pattern right now. There’s a high pressure off to our east, and we have kind of the return flow coming out of the south, so warm, and you know, you still might have one of those thunderstorms pop up very isolated, but maybe you’ll get lucky and get one, but most people won’t,” he said.
Boulay said he doesn’t see any change in sight in the short-term with more heat on the way to kick off June.
Summer warmth will hang on in the Twin Cities Wednesday, with some storms possible later in the day.
Highs will be in the upper 80s to near 90. Isolated thunderstorms are possible in the afternoon and evening, mainly across southern Minnesota.
Thursday will be dry, warm and less humid, though highs will stay well above normal.
Friday will bring pleasant late-May weather with sunshine and highs mainly in the 80s.
The weekend looks to be quiet and comfortable as dry conditions continue.
School was not in session over the holiday weekend, but a four-legged friend still managed to pay a visit to a Zimmerman, Minnesota, Montessori school.
The entire incident lasted less than 10 minutes, but left Prairie Hill Montessori with a shattered door and quite the story to tell.
“We got a call, we were up at our cabin… I was more concerned about the deer, which is just the way I am,” said Katherine Curtis, the school’s owner and instructor.
Curtis says the entire moment was caught on CCTV. It shows the deer break through a tempered glass door before tearing through the building, knocking items off shelves and attempting to exit through another door.
Eventually, a local sheriff’s deputy responded and was able to shoo the deer out the door.
“We were all like amazed at how fast it all happened. Actually, how fast the sheriff was able to get here,” Curtis said.
On Tuesday, Curtis was using the incident as a teaching moment. The school had painted a life-size deer on the boarded-up door, and students were coloring deer photos.
“All of the children came in this morning and reported to me what happened,” she said. “It’s unique. It’s something we can remember for years and we’ll have the video. The kids can remember it as something unique and special that happened to us at Prairie Hill.”
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