BRICE FIELDER CHECKS IN 5/6/26

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

And Brightfielder is on the line and something that Liz and I uh talk frequently about, and that's technology and devices in schools. And Brights is here to give us a little bit of an update with uh basically uh when you send me this email, an interesting story from the New York Times. Go ahead and elaborate. And good morning, Brights, by the way. Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

Hey, good morning, Nick. Thank you for having me as always. Yeah, really great story out of the New York Times last week, giving sort of a national perspective on what parent rights groups around the country have been doing with this push to encourage responsible uh technology use in our schools, right? And this comes on the heels of cell phone bans that have passed around the country. Of course, we had one in 2024 in South Carolina. And effectively what that did is that got personal cell phones out of the classrooms in an attempt to curb distractions and keep the focus really laser focused on learning. But what I think parents groups uh and even groups like ours have really started to realize is these cell phone measures were a really important first step. But the broader question of responsible technology use, particularly among young students, has to include a conversation about these school-issued uh laptop devices, right? And of course, you'll remember during COVID, so much of our learning shifted digital. And what happened was we got this flood of federal money, and a lot of our school districts invested in laptops and invested in these digital learning programs. And those programs have largely remained intact and we've we've retained many of these similar practices over the last few years. Well, now we're sort of at a point where we're asking the question of is this the right way for students to actually learn? And is there a better way to do it, a more balanced way to do it? So the article I sent you really just gives some examples of what uh jurisdictions and states and districts around the country are doing in an effort to get a more balanced approach. Um the Los Angeles School District, which is a major school district, of course, out there in California, is getting rid of its school-issue devices for kids uh in grades, kindergarten and first grade. And then Utah recently passed a law that's gonna let parents um see how much time their kids are spending on those school-issued laptops and which websites they visit. So I expect um this is we're gonna see more examples of states uh passing policies to have a more balanced uh approach on technology in schools. But I just thought it was fascinating uh that these parents' groups have been really effective in uh moving this issue in the right direction in our schools.

SPEAKER_00 2:50

Yeah, I agree with you, and there are so many different studies out there, and of course you have to look at who's you know who's funding these studies, but there's enough information out there to show you that everything you just pointed out, I mean the distractions reduced learning quality. These devices are the old joke back in the day was, uh, you know, babysitter, it's the boob tube in the corner. Well, it's kind of now morphed into it's the device you're holding in your hands, they're quiet, they're busy, that's good, but it's not necessarily so much, and the studies have shown that. And it's good to see a lot of people taking this proactive approach to it. Now, Orie County schools discussing changes to device use usage in and out of schools. That's another uh topic that you wanted to bring up. Tell us what you know.

SPEAKER_02 3:32

Yeah, so the school board in uh Orie County just had its board retreat, and uh the superintendent there, Clifford Jones, uh, has been discussing some potential options about technology use in the district. So one of those could include shutting off student laptops during certain hours using a software that the uh district has, and that might vary by grade, but effectively what that would do is students between you what you would expect to see is like night hours, uh, wouldn't be able to access their school-issued laptops. Um, another option, and this is one that's really been pushed by parents and teachers, is a device free day, which is basically uh there would be no uh device usage at school, and maybe homework would be done uh on pen and paper, of course, as we all remember doing it, or there wouldn't be homework at all for that day. And then finally, and this is one that I really hope we can act on immediately, is removing one-to-one uh from kindergarten and first grade. And of course, one-to-one is a policy that says every student in the district gets assigned a district-issued laptop. They use it at school and then they bring it home with them. So this could get rid of that policy in those early grades.

SPEAKER_00 4:43

Now, has there been any questions or pushback if there is uh assigned work to be done and they need that laptop because maybe they don't own one in their homes? You know, you've got some some folks in the community that can't afford to have multiple devices in their homes. And then you put this through this shutdown mode, however, they apply that, whether it be the software as you mentioned or whatever. Is there going to be any pushback or have you heard of any? It's like, well, how am I going to get my work done? That will be a question.

SPEAKER_02 5:08

Yes, I I expect that question will come up. I think at this point it's pretty early. Uh that this article just came out just a few days ago. You know, we've talked a bit about uh the software at Oregon County Schools, and and I don't have the exact name of it in front of me, but my understanding is it's pretty expansive as far as what it can track and see what's going on on these laptops. And so perhaps some parents will have privacy uh concerns or uh security concerns, uh, but but of course, um that software already exists, and I don't know too much about it to really elaborate uh too much there. Um and then to the question of well, do families, if this is their only device, uh, do we feel like if we go too far, then they won't have access to it. What I'm seeing from these ideas is they're not necessarily going to take it away, maybe for for those really young students, but it might just make it inaccessible during like late night hours when when you know families are asleep.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

Okay. Well, see now that makes sense. And Liz and I have discussed some of the software options and some of the different things that they have planned to use. And there was a couple of examples that Liz and I read. And you're right, the security concerns are there, privacy issues. So yeah, that is definitely absolutely a concern. We have often felt, Liz and I, that it's kind of a lazy approach, and I know you like to get into the feeling side of things, but you know, w when you're just handing a device off to a child and say, here, do this, learn this, it's really that it's it's not as hands-on as they think. So I am encouraged to hear that there's different groups out there that are promoting the fact that why don't we go back to doing homework like we used to? So that is encouraging, and I I'm pretty sure you feel the same.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

Yeah, absolutely. I think there's a bit of a reckoning going on about the way that we've schools that have shifted digital, and there is a ton of research, as you alluded to earlier, about the benefits of physical instruction, right? Pen and paper learning, this idea of actually taking notes by hand, how that stimulates the brain, what it means for memory retention. One of the key findings of a lot of these studies is essentially that the brain does not retain information as well through digital learning, through screen-based learning, as it does through reading printed books.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 7:19

Yes. We recently saw this incredible story out of Texas where it had uh passed a cell phone ban, I think, within the last 12 to 24 months, and they saw an uptick in library book checkouts shortly after that policy. And basically what happened is now that students don't have access to these supercomputers in their pockets all day, they're returning back to books and actually engaging with books in a way that used to be so much more common, and that was such an exciting thing to come out of that.

SPEAKER_00 7:48

I'm pretty sure that, you know, going through growing up and and going to school, uh, I I'm I I I can guess, uh just safe bet just from talking to these all these the last couple of years, that sometimes the exercise, and I know that that's what the study is alluding to, the exercise of writing down, taking notes, you may never return back to those notes for reference, but because you took the time to write down and take notes, uh it sticks in your brain much better.

SPEAKER_02 8:15

I I I agree. I don't know if you're like me, Nick, but if I really need to get some serious work done, I pull out the notepad and start writing things down. Yes. And for whatever scientific process is happening in the background, it feels like that information is sticking so much better.

SPEAKER_00 8:30

Yeah, I totally agree. Now, you had asked if there was time we could take a final look at the K through 12 bills, and we do have time, so I'd like you to update us on all of that. There's not much time left in the session, as a matter of fact.

SPEAKER_02 8:42

Yeah, we're we're coming up here uh right to the closing hour. So the regular session ends next Thursday, and of course, this is year two of the session. The bills that do not pass this year will have to restart and be filed again in 2027. Our organization has really been keeping track of four main bills throughout the year. One of those is the grading floor ban. We've talked about this ad nauseum on the program. Basically, this would prohibit districts from requiring teachers to set a minimum grade floor for students. Often that can take the form of 50 or 60 percent. And that floor comes in when it's used, sort of regardless of what uh level of uh work a student turns in. So it's it really creates all sorts of problems. And um, that bill has um passed both chambers, it's now back in the house. There's two different versions. If the house is to concur with the Senate, it will be sent to the governor's desk and passed. Um, and talking with some folks, my understanding is that South Carolina would be the first state in the nation to actually pass legislation addressing this issue. So that's really exciting. Wow, that is absolutely we we'd love to see South Carolina being a leader on these important issues. Um, there's another bill that would enhance the training that school board members receive. So, for example, it would say they have to get mandatory training after every re-election, and also that training must occur within six months of taking office. Right now, the rule is one year, so it moves that up. The Student Physical Privacy Act, another one that we've we've discussed, is a really common sense uh measure. And basically, it just designates our school bathrooms and locker rooms based on biological sense. And this is a rule that already exists in our state budget, and basically this would codify it and give it a little bit more teeth if there's a violation, there could be a legal action taken against schools that fail to comply. Finally, just real quick here, I want to mention the Parental Rights Act. This is an odd one, Nick. So this the House all the way back in February, I think nearly unanimously. Essentially, what it does is enshrines a series of basic parental rights in the law. It gives them more um authority to understand what their children are learning at school. And if there's a violation, parents can file a complaint with the district and it would go up to the State Board of Education, and there's this really sort of thorough process there. For whatever reason, we haven't seen a lot of movement at all uh since it moved to the center. In fact, it's my understanding, it hasn't even received a committee hearing. So uh barring a last-minute rescue here, it's looking like that bill might not get out of the uh system, so to speak, and may need to be reintroduced next year.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

And the chances of that, because sometimes, you know, we hear all that's where bills go to die and they never get reintroduced. Uh, is there enough push behind this to get this reintroduced for the next one?

SPEAKER_02 11:33

Oh, I I certainly see it being reintroduced, um, just given the fact that it passed almost unanimously out of the house and so early in this year's session. Um, so just the question becomes is there going to be enough focus amongst both chambers to actually pass it out and send it to Governor Henry McMaster?

SPEAKER_00 11:51

Okay. Bryce Fielder, he is the director and founding member and also board of directors secretary of Carolina's Academic Leadership Network. If any of this sounds interesting to you and people are interested in contacting you, is there a best way to do that? And of course, give us that website.

SPEAKER_02 12:07

Yes, we would love to have you involved. You can visit our website at schoolboardleader.com and sign up for our newsletter right there on the front page. And of course, if you visit our events tab, you can see our events that are upcoming. We usually have at least one webinar a month. And I'll just give a quick shout. On May 16th, we're doing a training for school board candidates here in Lexington. We've got a few spots left. So if that sounds interesting to you, we'd love for you to visit the website and check it out.

SPEAKER_00 12:34

Excellent. Thanks for always keeping an eye on things when it comes to uh our kids and learning. And I appreciate all the hard work you put in, you and your entire staff. Bryce, you have a great day. Thank you so much, sir.