FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Classes began for Fayetteville Public Schools this week, and a lot of changes are expected for the district this year and the years ahead.
One of those changes impacting students this year is going phone-free.
Superintendent for Fayetteville Public Schools John Mulford said the district is working to phase in completely phone-free classrooms for students.
“The first semester, we're focusing on protecting instructional time, so students are not allowed to have their phones out while in class,” Mulford said. “Once we get the pouches in, we plan to have the same approach for the rest of the semester, but students will be required to start utilizing the pouch while in class.”
Mulford said that the district currently does not have the pouches but will receive them in October.
He said he hopes to see students further focused on learning with fewer distractions alongside improvements to student mental health. Mulford added that four days into the school year, he is already hearing from teachers and principals that the roll-out has been going well.
“If all goes well and we feel like we're ready, then at the start of the second semester, students will put their phone in their pouch at the start of the day and not have access until the end of the day,” Mulford said.
Changes are also coming in the form of two new junior high school buildings that have not yet been constructed. They do, however, have names now.
In a unanimous decision Thursday night, the Fayetteville School Board voted to move the names of Ramay and Woodland Junior High Schools to two new buildings once they get built. He said the students and staff of the current Ramay and Woodland Junior High Schools will move over to the new sites as well.
“When those two new buildings are built, they will still be Woodland and Ramey Junior High,” Mulford said. “The main reason behind that through discussion was just the proud traditions that both have established, and just recognizing that work and maintaining that tradition moving forward."
Another change heading to the district, specifically Fayetteville High School, comes in the form of parking.
With an enrollment of 2,600 students, the high school currently has 550 parking spots. The district is looking to add 450 more in the form a multi-million-dollar parking structure.
“We're at a point where the only option is to look at a parking deck due to the limited space we have to build,” Mulford said. “And so that is in process, our board approved that several months back, and we’re working with the city around permitting and approval.”
Mulford said that one of the components that needs to be addressed before construction is about a tree preservation easement. He said there are large trees currently on the land where the structure is projected to be built.
Construction on the parking deck is expected to begin in Spring 2025.
The superintendent said that these changes are in part to accommodate for current and future growth as the district's student population has surpassed 10,000 students enrolled.
“We did over 35 community engagement sessions, we did multiple surveys, and we just tried to learn what are the pain points, what are some things you'd like to see happen,” Mulford said. “And so almost all this is in direct response to the feedback we've heard.”
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