SmartTranscript of House Education - 2025-04-23 - 11:30 AM

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[Representative Lobb]: Right. [Witness Sunny Erickson]: And we're live. [Chair Peter Conlon]: Okay. Back at the house education, Wednesday, April twenty three twenty twenty five. And back to discussing h fifty four and accurately the cell phone free schools. I wanted to just bring in some expertise to sort of talk about one of the bigger concerns people seem to have with banning cell phones, which is what about if there's an emergency? Mhmm. So we have somebody from the school safety program with us. And I think without further ado, Sonny, we'll just turn it over to you and look forward to your testimony if you just introduce yourself. And then I would also just remind the committee, there's a document I put around from the school resource school school resource officer association on this as well. Welcome. The the floor is yours. [Witness Sunny Erickson]: Okay. Thank you so much. My name is Sunny Erickson, school safety program manager for Vermont Emergency Management and the Vermont School Safety Center. I'm also the co chair of the Vermont school crisis planning team. I appreciate you all having me here to talk about this matter. I I believe we're just focusing on cell phone use during times of crisis. Is that correct? [Chair Peter Conlon]: Yes. [Witness Sunny Erickson]: Okay. Yeah. Excellent. I did provide a document, containing the, I'm not sure if you all were able to, you know, peruse that earlier or [Chair Peter Conlon]: No. I can see it for the for the first time right now. [Witness Sunny Erickson]: Okay. I mean, I'm I'm happy to read through it. Or if you just wanted a more generalized discussion, I'm happy to answer any questions, and talk about oh, go ahead. [Chair Peter Conlon]: Let's say, yeah, let's do a more generalized discussion. [Witness Sunny Erickson]: Okay. Perfect. So I I think I should open by saying, I I think everyone in the school safety arena, and the school safety center is a collaboration between the Department of Public Safety and AOE. So we work very closely between the two agencies in all policy development, best practices and guidance that's issued out to the field regarding school safety. I think everyone is in agreement that having a policy in place that establishes guidelines for use of cell phones during school hours or events is a good idea. I think what we would hope is that it's not too prescriptive and that it, would allow schools to consider their culture, their community and their school needs as they're developing those, parameters for their policy. I know that there are, I believe, eight schools that have enacted a policy, you know, nationwide that regulate or aim to structure the use of cell phones. Typically, those are during school hours or, during school sponsored events. Some of them are, you know, described being on school grounds. Some of them have, you know, during certain hours, but most of them have some limitations that are included in in the ability to use the cell phones during school. So I'm happy to answer any questions. There are you know, I I could address the pros and cons as we sort of weigh them, and as we've seen them pop up, throughout our experience in school safety. I I guess I'll I'll take the lead from what you all would like to know. [Chair Peter Conlon]: I think that one of the concerns that people have had and then and then there's the counter to it is if there's an emergency at my kid's school, I wanna be able to reach my student right then and there. Right. The counter being from some of the safety experts is that a kid on a phone that all of a sudden loses their sort of situational awareness to follow direction. And just they're they're distracted from the what is unfolding in front of them if it's an emergency. [Representative Lobb]: Can you speak with that? [Witness Sunny Erickson]: Sure. That is absolutely a concern with having students have use of their cell phones. That's that's, you know, the the most immediate, I guess, concern is that in the time of a crisis, you need an emergency response. And if you are looking at your cell phone, you might not be listening to instruction from teachers or administrators. You might not be getting the information that will allow you to best respond to whatever the threat or hazard is. That can also lead to, you know, a lot of students jumping on their telephones jams up telecom networks that can impede, emergency responders. That can also lead to parents what we call sort of parental flocking of when a parent hears a student is in distress, they want to go and help them. That can cause, you know, traffic jams that then first responders have to, you know, get battle against. And it can also put the parents in danger by drawing them to a potentially dangerous area or zone. So those are the the big concerns that we see when we talk about use of cell phones in the case of emergencies. [Chair Peter Conlon]: How about on the other side? Is there strong arguments for kids having access to their cell phones during a a a safety crisis? [Witness Sunny Erickson]: So there I mean, there are some positive outcomes. You know, that immediate communication and ability to connect even if it's a text story call to their parents to let them know they are safe, to let them know that the situation is being addressed, that can provide great peace of mind and can, on the other side, you know, perhaps, delay the parents trying to get right to the school if they know that their child is there. That limits the traffic, congestion, and some of those other problems such as parents entering dangerous zones. It can also be used to, you know, sort of disperse any rumors that parents might see online or by word-of-mouth. These things happen so quickly and the rumor mill can really churn, at the speed of light. So they might be able to sort of put their parents' mind at ease and give them sort of a real time viewing of that. They can also utilize that cell phone to call for assistance, if if they feel it's not on the way already. If they feel like an emergency responder hasn't been notified, they might be able to provide additional information as events unfold. [Chair Peter Conlon]: On balance, do you have a which way does the school safety program lead in this issue? [Witness Sunny Erickson]: I think that each, I think our our recommendation is that each district or supervisory union has some sort of policy in place. Each union and district is different and has different considerations for what their student body might face for threats and hazards. And they know the needs of their community and their students and the culture in which they're operating their schools. So I would say the safety center recommends policies be developed, and there are many, many resources out there. There are, like I said, the eight states that have already enacted legislation for, you know, for managing these, cell phone uses in events. I think what our recommendation is is to have the policies be in place, but allowing the districts and unions to develop those based on their individual needs. [Chair Peter Conlon]: Other questions? Alright. I'm not seeing any other questions. Thanks for making the time for us today and and preparing the document that you provided. [Witness Sunny Erickson]: Sure. I just one one side note. In that document, there are links to what is currently available to educators on the AOE website, and that's developed in collaboration with the school safety center, so DPS and AOE. And there's also, a federal guidance document in there, that you might want to refer to as you're, you know, working through this, bill. And if you had any other questions or wanted additional resources, I'd be happy to provide those. [Chair Peter Conlon]: We do have one one question, representative Lobb. [Representative Lobb]: Thank you for coming in and sharing your thoughts. I just was curious on based on your last statement, could you give me an example of different between school districts that would warrant a different policy? I I'm just trying to I was trying to think of something in my mind, and I couldn't think of anything. [Witness Sunny Erickson]: Right. Well, when I think of the the school systems throughout Vermont, and that includes public, private, and independent schools, therapeutic schools. Some of those are very small in their student bodies. Some of them are very rural. Some of them are are much, you know, larger and more metropolitan. I think that based on and also they experience things differently in different areas of the state. You know, there there are places that have a higher level of, you know, not only security, but of events that happen that would be of a threatening nature. Some of those are concentrated regionally. So those responses might be more stringent. They might choose to designate an area where the, you know, where the cell phones are placed at the beginning of the day and get them back later. Some of them might confine it during, confine use during certain, you know, sections of the day, but might utilize the phones for instructional activities or something along that line or devices. I'm I'm including devices in in that as well. I do think that there's a lot of different school cultures and different needs of different communities. So I think allowing those districts and supervisory unions to develop those policies, they have the best understanding of of their, you know, the demographic that they are serving. And I I think that leaving a little bit of leeway for them to address what steps might best meet the needs of their schools. That's why we would offer the flexibility. [Representative Lobb]: Okay. But I guess I was asking in the context of an emergency, a moment of emergency, regardless of where you were located at any state. That's what I was trying to see the the an emergency feels like an emergency no matter what part of state you're in or or what the context of it is. [Witness Sunny Erickson]: Right. That's why the I I think that if I'm understanding what you're you're saying, I think having a baseline policy that would cover every school would be a good idea with the flexibility to allow different schools to sort of put in put in different exemptions or different practices based on their needs. [Chair Peter Conlon]: Okay. Alright. Thank you very much. [Witness Sunny Erickson]: Thank you. Alright. Thank you very much. [Chair Peter Conlon]: Alright, committee.
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