More than a hundred teachers and staff from Banks' three public schools gathered in the Banks Elementary School cafeteria Aug. 19 for a breakfast with their peers and school officials as another school year began.
Principals from the Banks Elementary School, Banks Middle School, and Banks High School introduced new staff, and students—appearing in person, via video, or through relayed messages—spoke about how much their teachers meant to them. The principals highlighted victories and improvements over the last academic year.
"We know how important the schools are to this community," Banks School District Superintendent Brian Sica said in an interview with Banks Post Editor Chas Hundley.
"We know how important our schools are to our kids," he said.
"We are off to such a strong start as far as the growth that our kids are showing in reading and math, the participation that we have in extracurricular activities," he said.
"It's so exciting right now to be a part of that, and just so great to watch the staff come back and the kids come back."
Sica said for many working at the district and the returning students, this year would be unlike any other as the district gears up for major construction to replace much of the Banks High School, a student cell phone ban looms, and security upgrades change how members of the public enter schools.
Also present were several dignitaries and members of local organizations, including Banks Mayor Marsha Kirk, State Rep. Darcy Edwards, members of the Banks School Board, and members of the Banks Historical Society.
Cell phone ban ahead for students
On July 2, Oregon Governor Tina Kotek signed Executive Order 25-09, an order mandating that school districts set a policy banning the use of cell phones by students no later than October 31.
"The intent of this is to limit distractions, keep kids safe from cyber bullying, keep kids safe from online content that's not beneficial to them," Sica said. "A lot of times, accessing their phones, especially during the school day, can limit their engagement with their classes," he added.
Sica noted that the district had already been trying to limit the use of cell phones by students before the executive order.
The Banks School Board will hear a first draft of the district's cell phone policy as early as September, and must adopt policies no later than October 31 to take effect no later than Jan. 1, 2026, according to Sica and the executive order. Input for the draft will come from workgroups and an ongoing survey. In general, the policy will cover where the students must keep their cell phones, how the rules will be enforced, and exceptions for students who have a legitimate need to carry a cell phone for medical or other reasons as specified in tailored plans for some students.
Order applies to other devices
The order is aimed at cell phones, which is the bulk of what school staff see in use by students, but with the advent of smart glasses and other cellular connected devices like smart watches and other wearables, the order is worded to include other categories. Any portable electronic device "capable of making and receiving calls and text messages" is targeted by the order, excluding laptops or tablets required for schoolwork.
"We don't see many of the glasses yet, but they're coming," Sica said.
Meta, Facebook's parent company, currently enjoys market dominance with their popular Meta Ray-Bans, which have sold at least 2 million pairs since they debuted in 2023.
The glasses have speakers, a camera, and can access Meta's artificial intelligence large language models. This year, the company is expected to release a follow-up to the glasses that feature a small heads-up text display during Meta Connect, the company's developer conference held September 17-18.
Other tech companies, including Apple and Google's parent company, Alphabet, are rushing to release smart glasses in various forms into the market.
"We've had a few kids show up," with smart glasses, Sica said.
"We need to adapt and find ways to make sure that we're helping kids learn, and grow, and use technology appropriately," he said.
"Right now we're finding that cell phones, especially when they're accessing social media, especially when they're accessing the internet at large are becoming detriments to students' education," he said. "The research is very clear on that," he added.
The new policy will have a "bell-to-bell" requirement that students not access their phones from the start of the school day to the end, but it wouldn't require students to abide by the requirement while, for example, walking to lunch, Sica said.
"So many of our students go down to the local restaurants, down to Jim's, they're allowed to have their phones during that time and use their phones during that time for whatever they want," he said.
Sica said that whatever policy the board adopts, it will require adjustments from families.
"In the world we live in, many families are accustomed to having almost instantaneous communication with their students," he said.
"It's going to take a shift," he said. Some form of system will be set up to allow parents to contact the school office who can then contact a student if needed, Sica said.
In other words, a return to how families communicated with their students in the decades between widespread adoption of landlines in the early 1900s and widespread adoption of mobile and later smartphones by students beginning in the mid 2000s.
Security and access changes to schools and other construction
Visitors to the Banks Elementary and Banks Middle School may have already noticed new security vestibules.
"People who are coming on to our campus during the day, first will have to be buzzed in," Sica said. Visitors will then have to check in with the school's front office staff.
A similar system is expected to be built at the high school as well, but the district opted to wait to install such a system until construction at the high school was complete.
The high school's ancient boiler, which has for years left students and athletics events visitors sitting in the cold, has been replaced.
The boiler, which heated the school's gym, hallways, and cafeteria, was so old that when parts broke, new ones had to be custom-fabricated.
"So we would go a month or so with no heat in the hallways, no heat in the gym," he said.
The new system is installed and works great, Sica said.
"I think that our students should expect that the place is heated when they come into it," he said.
More construction is coming, and by spring, the high school will look like a major construction site, Sica said.
