Melissa Hostetter, who identified herself as a parent and educator, used her allotted public-comment time to press the board to change the district’s approach to student-issued devices. She said national media coverage and academic studies indicate excessive in-school device use correlates with lower standardized-test performance and other harms.

Hostetter listed specific proposals: stronger device locks, disabling YouTube on school-managed devices, little to no device access for the youngest learners, keeping middle-school devices on classroom carts instead of issuing take-home devices, and enabling parents to opt out where feasible. She acknowledged operational challenges — noting that if a single student opts out, classroom instruction that relies on devices becomes difficult — but argued the district should ‘get ahead’ of potential legislation and parent opt-outs.

Hostetter cited a Common Sense Media survey she said found one in four American teenagers had seen pornographic content during the school day and that almost half of that group saw it on school-issued devices; she used that statistic to underline the urgency of device controls and urged fellow educators and parents to contact board members.

Board response: the public-comment period concluded without an immediate staff policy change; the board and district staff took the comment under advisement and later proceeded with the agenda. No formal vote or policy motion addressing Hostetter’s recommendations was taken at this meeting.