The Woodlands Edition | July 2025

Education

BY ANGELA BONILLA & JULIANNA WASHBURN

Conroe ISD approves cellphone ban Conroe ISD board of trustees unanimously approved updated district cellphone policies at its regular meeting June 17. The approval means students’ personal communication devices such as cellphones and smart watches must stay turned o and put away during the school day. “While it’ll be a very dicult adjustment for many, I know it’s going to make an impact on mental health in our district for our students and educational outcomes as well, so I’m thankful for that,” board President Misty Odenweller said at the meeting. The policy will take eect for grades K-12 on Aug. 13, according to CISD. How we got here The vote comes after the Texas Senate passed House Bill 1481, which mandates that school districts adopt policies banning the use of personal

Superintendent search begins in CISD Conroe ISD unanimously approved its Superintendent Search Plan June 17. Current situation Superintendent Curtis Null left the district to take the superintendent post in Lake Travis ISD on June 1, and Ted Landry was named interim superintendent May 19, according to previous Community Impact reporting. The superintendent search rm, Texans for Excellence in Education will begin recruiting applicants for the position, which would begin in September. The timeline TEE will conduct four in-person com- munity forums and distribute surveys to students, families, sta and community members this summer.

Policy exceptions Extenuating circumstances or exemptions for the cellphone ban include:

Letting a parent or guardian know of a late bus

Cellphone use is deemed necessary by a medical provider

A 504 plan for students with disabilities species using a device

SOURCE: CONROE ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT

communication devices during the school day. The legislation was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott June 20. Under the approved policy, telecommunications devices “are not to be used during class change passing periods or lunch periods.” According to the CISD packet agenda, the conse- quences for unauthorized use are that the device “will be con scated with each oense, held in the school oce and returned to the student at the end of that school day.”

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