The Perry School Board met in regular session on Monday.

Board Director Eddie Diaz, who also is the Director of the Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) VanKirk Career Academy, brought up an idea about handling cell phones in the classroom. The Iowa State Legislature is considering a bill to ban cell phones in the classroom, and he commented that his colleagues at the DMACC Carroll campus are doing a community read on the book “The Anxious Generation,” which focuses on an over abundance of cell phone use for children and the relation to mental illness. Diaz will be utilizing the DMACC VanKirk Career Academy as a trial run, and thinks that residents in Perry should know the potential dangers regarding cell phones.

“As a community, we can try and get as many people to read it (and) at the end of it, we have a panel discussion moderated by hopefully some educators, AEA folks, school psychologists, and then hopefully getting some traction. I know that we’re not going to convince everybody on what the board is trying to say, but I think more people need to be aware of the science behind screen time (and) what it does to kids.”

Items on the agenda that were approved by the board included appointing 15 members to the Perry School Improvement Advisory Committee and annual district improvement goals as presented by SIAC, setting a date to approve electronic bidding procedures plus the signature page for the Secure and Advanced Vision for Education bonds for February 25th at 3pm, and accepting the 2025-25 school calendar.

Additional items on the agenda that were approved pertained to a resolution for a Heartland Area Education Agency Teacher Librarian Service Agreement, a policy review for a long range needs assessment, a policy review for reconsideration of instructional and library materials, several revisions of board policies as presented, and a memorandum of understanding between Perry Community Schools and Northwestern College for student teachers.