Recently, all over my Instagram feed have been constant reposts of the same message: “CCSD’s (Clark County School District) phone-blocking pouches are a waste.” The Change.org’s petition can be described as a request to stop wasteful spending by CCSD on phone pouches and reallocate that funding to other causes.

The cause is a noble one. However, the change being asked for isn’t going to solve the impacts described.

As described in a breakdown of budgetary spending provided by the Nevada Department of Education for fiscal year 2024, “Funds have been budgeted to … Faraday Cell Phone Bags to support a safe and healthy learning and working environment” at a cost of slightly more than $2.5 million. This sounds like a lot, however, it’s a drop in the bucket when solving the systemic problems of CCSD. 

The goal of the phone-banning petition is to take back the $2.5 million being spent on the phone pouches and redirect the money to “more important issues.”

Taking a look at the impact they hope to make, the Change.org petition mentions increasing lunch funding, improving Chromebooks, improving internet for said Chromebooks, increasing teacher pay and increasing security against bullying.

Another claim is that the school district is focused on issues that aren’t present. But let’s  look at CCSD’s budgeting, what $2.5 million could do and why the phone pouches are being presented by CCSD as an attempt at an innovative solution to address low student achievement.

The school district’s budget for fiscal year 24 is $1.2 billion, with $1.1 billion already budgeted and $66 million remaining. The CCSD budget is paltry for being the fifth largest school district in the nation. The Miami-Dade School District — which serves about 330,000 students compared to the CCSD’s approximate 310,000 students — had a budget of more than $7 billion for fiscal year 23. One of the biggest issues facing our school district is chronic underfunding. If $7 billion isn’t enough to stop widespread teacher shortages spurred on by budget cuts in the Miami-Dade School District, how could our school district, of a comparable size, solve the same issues with only $2.5 million? The petition’s solution does not provide enough. 

In terms of pure spending, $2.5 million won’t go far in fixing the five issues listed. The issue with lunch funding is that CCSD isn’t operating it. The funding for free meals was provided by the American Rescue Plan, which is now ending for this next year. Addressing the draining funds that will force students to once again pay for lunches can’t be done by reallocating CCSD funds but instead by lobbying the U.S. government to strengthen spending on the Hunger-Free Kids Act, not just on a state level but a national level.

The idea of spending more on Chromebooks is a misguided mentality. In fiscal year 24, CCSD has set aside $28 million toward Chromebooks. At approximately $400 per Chromebook, buying new or more expensive ones that break down less often is a bad choice. School technology, such as Chromebooks, go unreturned by students, making the extra expense of buying more high-end technology worthless.

In Chicago Public Schools, it was found that in fiscal year 2021-2022, nearly $20 million worth of electronics, specifically Chromebooks, went missing. With this being nearly one-sixth of spending allocated toward it, the school district faced an even bigger spending shortfall than before. 

The issue of weak connectivity in schools is one that would cost millions to fix. Right now, CCSD spends $5.6 million on hot spots, or internet connectivity, and that extra $2.5 million on infrastructure could go a long way. However, federal officials have recently taken new steps toward to provide Internet for All in Nevada. With the funding already proposed to increase internet infrastructure, there won’t be a need to reallocate CCSD funds. 

Increasing teacher pay is a highly noble cause. It is one of the best ways to incentivize increased pursuit of teaching as a career. In 2023, CCSD had 1,316 educator vacancies, leaving thousands of students without teachers. Even so, considering that there are more than 18,000 teachers in CCSD, $2.5 million won’t go very far. If allocated evenly, it would give each teacher a $138 bonus.

That is not the sort of change education advocates are asking for. The teacher pay gap is an issue that is continuing to grow throughout the United States and is systemic due to a lack of educational funding and economic mismanagement nationwide. Stating that CCSD can simply increase teacher funding is misguided because it does not have the money to do so. 

Then there is the issue about providing increased security to help stop bullying. With Nevada ranking number three in bullying nationwide, taking steps to address it is an obvious priority. However, simply reallocating funding isn’t the solution.

In 2022, CCSD approved funding to add 30 police officers, an additional security measure to address bullying in the district. However, at nearly $3.5 million to hire just 30 officers, spending the extra $2.5 million to boost police count isn’t the right solution. In CCSD middle schools, violent acts are on the rise, with 1,294 students referred to The Habor for criminal violations in 2023-2024. Tempering these violent tendencies or preventing bullying can’t be done with increased security. Instead, money should be allocated to investing in community for youth. Youth workplace and work development programs are found to reduce youth violence by 35 percent to or 45 percent. The strong effects of community building are clear, we just have to invest in them. 

After taking a closer look at the issues, we can see how $2.5 million would not be helpful in addressing most of them. But do phone bags solve the issue of low educational attainment? In a study from August 2016, schools in England found that banning cell phones can have academic benefits, especially for students struggling in school. It also cites that, for the perceived benefits, banning phones is a low-cost policy that has a noticeable effect on student performance.

This study may not translate perfectly to the U.S, however, the low-cost solution it offers is one that has to be appreciated. From a policy perspective, CCSD is testing an innovative, affordable new policy that could increase educational attainment for the lowest-performing students. If it fails, then CCSD is likely to not continue the policy going forward. If it succeeds, it likely will.

As a high school student, I don’t know everything. But by taking a step back to examine what CCSD is doing, it’s clear that they are taking actions to solve the issue of low educational attainment. While the district is not addressing some issues, its lack of funding makes addressing them all nearly impossible.

To the people running the Change.org petition, I commend your efforts, as I support positive change and activism. However, bashing our school district for testing an innovative new solution is not the answer. Instead, students should work together on making positive change in the community. Rallying against our school district isn’t an answer, but fundraising for local clubs, advocating for teacher’s pay and fighting for legislation is. Steps like those can really make change.

For further reading on our education system, I recommend this article by Brookings and this report by the Learning Policy Institute on full educational reform.

Ty Tan is a sophomore attending school in Clark County School District.

The Nevada Independent welcomes informed, cogent rebuttals to opinion pieces such as this. Send them to [email protected].