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How to Present a Phone Ban to Your School Board: A 15-Slide Outline
Present a phone policy to your board in fifteen slides: the decision you need, the local problem, the evidence, the rule that applies, the proposal, exemptions, emergency contact, storage, cost, timeline and how you will measure it. Use the outline below to build your own deck.
Slide 1, the decision: one sentence on what you are asking the board to approve, and by when. Slide 2, what we see today: local numbers such as device incidents, time teachers spend on enforcement, and staff survey results. Slide 3, what students say: two or three quotes from your own student survey. Slide 4, the evidence: PISA 2022 on digital distraction and maths scores, UNESCO's 2023 GEM Report, and any research your board has already asked about.
Slide 5, the rule that applies: your national, state or provincial requirement and its deadline, or schools nearby that have moved. Slide 6, the proposal: phones off and stored bell to bell, including breaks and lunch. Slide 7, why full-day rather than lessons-only: lessons-only rules leave teachers enforcing it class by class and leave breaks for filming and messaging. Slide 8, exemptions: medical, disability and learning-plan needs, and teacher-approved learning use.
Slide 9, emergencies: parents call the office, the safety plan does not rely on student phones. Slide 10, storage options compared: collection, lockers, bags and lockable pouches, with staff time and liability for each. Slide 11, cost: one-time purchase versus recurring fees over five years. Slide 12, timeline: approval, parent letter, staff briefing, launch, first-term review. Slide 13, parent communication plan. Slide 14, how we will measure it: incidents, staff time, surveys at one term and one year.
Slide 15, the decision again, with the motion wording. Attach the draft policy, parent letter and research list as appendices. Keep each slide to one point and one number. For the cost slide, Before The Internet sells lockable phone pouches and unlocking bases outright and ships worldwide, with no subscription, lease or per-student annual licence. Tell us your student numbers and start term and we will send a written figure you can put on the slide.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a school board presentation on phones be?
Aim for about fifteen slides and ten minutes, leaving most of the time for questions.
What questions do school boards ask about phone bans?
Usually emergencies, exemptions, cost, who enforces it, and what the evidence says. The outline covers each of these.
Can we turn the outline into our own slides?
Yes. Each slide's content is listed above, so you can copy it straight into your own presentation software and add your local numbers.
Related reading
Phone-free schools toolkit · Board memo template: school phone policy · Why schools ban phones · How to roll out phone pouches in a school
Written by the team at Before The Internet, a Toronto-based phone-free company that rents lockable phone pouches for events across North America and sells them to schools and venues worldwide, shipping purchases to any country.
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