DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The DeKalb County School District in 2024 became one of the first in Georgia to address smartphone use by students, and district officials say the effort has yielded positive results.
In July 2024, a pilot program called Disconnect to Reconnect was implemented across 18 schools in DCSD. According to Director of Student Relations Darnell Logan, those schools have seen a 17% decrease in student discipline since its implementation.
After hearing teachers’ concerns that cellphone use in classrooms was causing distractions and less engagement, Logan and district staff members initiated the program.
“We added Disconnect to Reconnect to give teachers another resource to help support us and help combat students using their phones during the day, on social media, distracted from instruction,” Logan said.
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