{"id":150451,"date":"2025-08-16T12:14:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T12:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/150451\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T12:14:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T12:14:13","slug":"back-to-school-hollister-high-enacts-cellphone-policy-to-reduce-distractions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/150451\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to School: Hollister High enacts cellphone policy to reduce distractions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: This article was updated to correct a sentence stating the district had received $36 million from the state for the new campus. Lea este art\u00edculo en espa\u00f1ol aqu\u00ed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With an eye on constructing another campus to address overcrowding,<\/strong> Hollister High School leaders are taking aim at building on last year\u2019s academic successes as the new school year starts.<\/p>\n

The school\u2019s administration indicated it is focused on minimizing distractions during instructional time, including setting limits on cell phone use. Students are now required to place their phones in designated areas in the classrooms during instruction.<\/p>\n

In addition, educators are expanding the school\u2019s academies and advanced classes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In his third year as principal, Kevin Medeiros said he has noticed a positive change in students, saying they are more acclimated to the school environment four years after schools turned to remote instruction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve gotten a lot of positive feedback about students following the cellphone policies, students being respectful,\u201d he said. \u201cJust walking around campus you can feel that positive spirit. Students are saying hi, they seem happy, and are interacting with one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hollister High started the 2025-26 school year on Aug. 5.<\/p>\n

San Benito High School District Superintendent Shawn Tennenbaum said this is the first year where students are required to place their phones in a designated location in each classroom. If students violate the policy, the devices may be confiscated and can only be picked up by parents. The policy was piloted in the summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids not having the ability to utilize their phone during instructional time really opens the door for educator-to-student dialogue,\u201d Tennenbaum said. \u201cKids are focused, [you have] student-to-student dialogue and conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said there are 100 teachers with cellphone lockers and another 10 with wall-mounted storage devices.<\/p>\n

Junior Brisa Rodriguez, 16, said she uses her phone a lot to the point of being addicted to it, but thought it was a smart policy because it does help students learn better.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s helpful because I would be on my phone all the time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez said one concern, however, was that she would not have immediate access to the phone in case of an emergency.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Freshman Eduardo Renteria, 14, said the policy would help him focus in the classroom. He said he uses his phone mostly to be on social media<\/p>\n

\u201cSi esta esa regla la tenemos que seguirla,\u201d he said. (If that\u2019s a rule, we have to follow it.)<\/p>\n

Medeiros said students are more involved in \u201crigorous courses,\u201d noting that 55% of them in the 2024-25 school year enrolled in advanced classes including advanced placement (AP) and academy courses.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The two academies, Early College Academy and Academy of Health Science were launched last school year<\/a>. This year, there are 228 students enrolled in the academies; last year there were 133.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The district is looking to launch its Academy of Education next school year, Career and College Readiness Director Claire Grissom said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat shows that we have counselors, we have teachers, school staff and families pushing students to challenge themselves,\u201d Medeiros said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Medeiros said graduation rates, attendance and enrollment in advanced classes are trending upward.<\/p>\n

Last school year, the attendance rate increased from 93.1% to 94.7% and the graduation rate also increased from 93.6% to 94.3%.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids are coming to school, they\u2019re being successful and we\u2019re helping support them crossing that finish line,\u201d Medeiros said.<\/p>\n

An increasing number of students are also enrolling in advanced classes. Last year 601 students took the AP exam, averaging a passing score of 3.22, which gives them college credit for the AP course.<\/p>\n

Though the number of students taking an AP exam declined from last year\u2019s 638, there is an overall increase of 100 students since the 2020-21 school year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have eight AP courses that have over an 85% pass rate,\u201d Medeiros said. \u201cThat\u2019s phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n

New campus<\/strong><\/p>\n

This year\u2019s freshman class of about 900 students and 21 new teachers joined the second-largest high school in Northern California, boosting enrollment to about 3,400 students. That underscores what school administrators and others say is the increasingly urgent need for a new high school.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While enrollment numbers tend to fluctuate, especially early in the school year, the campus is nearly at its capacity of 3,437 students.<\/p>\n

The district also has 100 or so students at the San Andreas Continuation High School, which is run by the San Benito County Office of Education.<\/p>\n

Tennenbaum said the district is still working on obtaining site approval from the California Department of Education to construct another campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The district recently purchased properties<\/a> on Wright Road, northwest of Hollister, and has also owned property on Best Road, southeast of Hollister, for years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both locations are outside Hollister\u2019s city limits, which adds another layer of challenge to building another campus. Both sites would require the district to obtain city approval to hook up to its infrastructure. A majority of the Hollister City Council opposes extending services past city limits as part of its stance on slowing residential development.<\/p>\n

Tennenbaum said both properties are options \u201cto create that flexibility for the district down the road,\u201d to strategically place the campus where future growth will occur.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re pushing forward with plans for high school No. 2, design-wise, approval-wise,\u201d Tennenbaum said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, the primary challenge for the district in pursuing a new high school remains securing adequate funding. The district was unsuccessful in getting voter support in 2024 for two separate measures totaling $140 million to fund the new campus.<\/p>\n

The district constantly has applied for state funds made available by the state for reimbursement for projects at the Hollister High School. In June, the district said it was awaiting decisions on applications totaling $11 million.<\/p>\n

According to the district\u2019s 2023 master plan, a new campus would cost $220 million to build.<\/p>\n

\"JuniorJunior Brisa Rodriguez said there were positive and negative aspects of the cellphone policy. Photo by Noe Maga\u00f1a.<\/p>\n

We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news!<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. Producing local news is expensive, and community support keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County\u2019s public service nonprofit news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor\u2019s note: This article was updated to correct a sentence stating the district had received $36 million from…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":150452,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[88412,611,158,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-150451","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-hollister-high-school","9":"tag-mobile","10":"tag-technology","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115038392553021285","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}