Flandreau High School students have harsher rules and consequences when it comes to their cell phones.
Phones will be confiscated if they are not turned off and kept in backpacks or lockers during the school day. The policy also applies to earbuds and headphones, which school staff will assume are connected to a device.
Students will be allowed to use their phones before school and during lunch. If they need to contact parents, they will be allowed to use a phone in the office.
The policy, revised by a staff committee, is needed to protect the academic integrity at school and to make sure students focus on leaning, Principal Nichole Herzog told school board members at the Dec. 10 meeting. “Parents who need to contact their children can do so by contacting the front office,” she said.
Cell phones have been used to cheat and have been a class distraction, she said. “We have one of the more lenient polices around here.”
Staff members also will have a specific policy to avoid use of their devices during class time unless they are given specific approval from Herzog. The use can only be for academic purposes or an emergency situation, she said.

Student discipline for getting caught with their phone the first time is that the devise will be confiscated until the end of the school day, and the student will receive one hour of detention. On the second violation, the phone will be confiscated and the student will be assigned to Saturday school, with the parent being required to pick up the phone. The third violation will require a day of in-school suspension instead of Saturday School, along with the other actions, and a fourth will mean three days of in-school suspension, along with the confiscation and requirement of a parent to pick up the phone.
In other business,
•The district hired Kali Ahlers as a behavior specialist/counselor beginning Jan. 3. Ahlers, who has been with the Miller and Redfield districts will be paid $28,665.
An increase in student behavior problems prompted the board in November to approve the hiring of a behavior specialist. More students are being considered for placement outside of the district, and disruptive behaviors are interrupting learning, staff with the district said. Principals are spending several hours a day intervening and dealing with mental health needs, preventing them from doing their jobs, as well, staff said.
•The board discussed numbers provided by Superintendent Rick Weber that show class sizes at Flandreau High School vary from a single student in a career-oriented elective to 49 students in band.
The board reviewed the numbers in anticipation of future budget decisions and changes that may be needed when new high school requirements are incorporated as early as next year.
Last year, the district offered 44 electives, including eight new courses. If an elective has fewer than 10 students interested, it was not place into the schedule. In addition, if there were at least 10 students interested but the teacher was needed in a core class instead, the elective wouldn’t make the schedule.
The district plans to have a rotation of career-oriented classes so students who choose that pathway have the opportunity to take enough classes over the years.
School administrators plan that scheduling will look different under the new course requirements.