SAN DIEGO — The superintendent of the Sweetwater High School District said it is looking into potentially banning cell phones in classrooms during instructional time.
"For us the really important thing is there's a emerging field of research that shows cell phones are a distraction for learning," said Dr. Moises Aguirre, Superintendent of Sweetwater Union High School District. "Most of our middle schools don't allow usage in class."
"There's questions that need to be looked at more deeply, does this extend beyond classroom for passing breaks? Lunch time? Things like that. So those are the things we're trying to fine tune before making a broader decision for all of our campuses," he said.
CBS 8 sat down with Aguirre for an in-depth interview Thursday morning about a range of topics including cell phone usage, gender identity policies in schools, funding and chronic absenteeism.
In 2023, California lawmakers passed The Safety Act, which bans school districts from requiring staff to disclose a student's gender or pronoun change to others, including their parents. However, some districts are pushing back.
Aguirre said Sweetwater is not one of them.
"Were going to follow whatever the state guidelines are, we're here to provide and support our students," said Aguirre. "For us, the focus is making sure every student feels safe at our schools."
Aguirre said the district is facing problems of chronic absenteeism. Currently, there are 34,000 students enrolled district-wide. He said the attendance rate is about 91%-92%. Before the pandemic, he said it was 94%.
He said the reasons for absence are wide ranging, everything from mental health to economic stressors.
As for the budget, the district faces a $40-47 million structural deficit, according to Aguirre. Pandemic funding from the state is expiring this year. He said over time, the district will need to face some tough decisions. Right now, he said staff is using reserves and attrition to help bridge the financial gap.
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