Distraction-Free Schools Colorado - DFS BVSD

Take Action Now

Published May 12, 2026

Email this to your School Board

Use this template to email your school board members.

Ready to take action?

Email your School Board now!

Why This Action Matters

Did you hear about the great news from Los Angeles this past week?Thanks to our California chapter of DFS for providing this excellent template. Highly encourage all of you to send this personally to your school boards and superintendents.

It should take about five minutes to look up their contact information if you don’t already have it, and personalize this template with your own name and school district details.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d4QyLUMMtmxdEQFxPqqucujBEnaHQX-ImTdebBnOuXo/edit?tab=t.4s9732fi7fe3

Here is a copy/paste version written to Boulder Valley board members, that also includes a statement from a school psychologist:

Dear BVSD School Board Members,

I’m writing to draw your attention to a significant development at the national level regarding classroom technology, and the pervasive nature of screens in our schools.
Recently, the Los Angeles Unified School District unanimously passed a resolution to reduce and limit the use of screens in classrooms. You can read the full resolution here. Among other things, the resolution commits to:


  • Eliminating the use of student digital devices in Pre-K, Kindergarten, and 1st grade
  • Prohibiting student-led access to YouTube and video streaming platforms. (It’s worth noting LAUSD is part of a class-action lawsuit against YouTube and other social media companies.) 
  • Establishing maximum daily and weekly screen time limits by grade level
  • Prohibiting device use during lunch, recess, and passing periods in elementary and middle school
  • Encouraging the use of paper, pen, and physical textbooks
  • Encouraging off-screen homework assignments, particularly for younger students
  • Triggering a formal re-evaluation of iReady — one board member stated publicly: "I have yet to hear a positive comment on the impact of iReady. iReady has just taken over our classrooms."

The resolution's inclusion of iReady is timely. The program is facing serious national scrutiny on two fronts - growing questions about whether it delivers any meaningful outcomes for students, and a recently filed lawsuit alleging that it collects and monetizes student data:

This resolution passed unanimously reflecting a growing consensus that the current approach to classroom technology must change. A formal vote on a new policy in LAUSD is scheduled for June, with changes in place for the 26/27 school year. I'd encourage you to listen to the LAUSD board comments prior to the vote as they speak directly to the concerns many parents and educators share.
BVSD students deserve the same commitment as the students of LAUSD. I am asking the district, on behalf of many parents and educators, to commit to meaningful policy changes in time for the 26/27 school year.  Just recently, a school psychologist who works in BVSD (and wishes to remain anonymous, but did consent to me sharing this with you), expressed the following concerns:


"In our own house, I have one student who is in a typical public middle school and another student who is in a charter school that restricts technology to almost nothing (except state testing). As a parent, I noticed a HUGE difference when we pulled our daughter out of the traditional, neighborhood school that relies extensively on tablets to a school that features a paper to pencil, teacher led learning style. Her behavior improved, her rate of learning improved, and I am now able to keep up with what she is learning/homework because it is completed at home, on our kitchen table. I contrast this with my older child, for whom I genuinely struggle to understand where his assignments live, what he is learning, etc.

To be clear, I work in public education, and I *still* struggle to understand what is happening with his assignments at school. Even his math homework is digital. This cannot be best practice for learning. Beyond the digital curriculum, kids are accessing video games from websites and youtube ALL DAY LONG. He came home from school yesterday totally panicked about a viral outbreak on a cruise ship. When I asked where he had learned about this, he said it was not in class or from us but was from him researching news articles during class without any supervision/teacher input.

We have SO many children struggling with attention, focus, and behavior at school- I can't help but think that these things are linked. Kids are not ready to have the world at their fingertips 24/7. It causes anxiety and stress in adults, with fully formed brains. Imagine what is does to teenagers.


Many teachers and parents are aligned on this point, but unsure of how to address it. Often it feels in my house when I take my sons phone, tablet, etc. every afternoon that I am patching an ever growing, giant crack in a wall with a tiny, single piece of scotch tape. Despite my very clear intentions, education, and effort I still feel that I am losing the struggle to allow his brain/executive functioning skills to develop the way they should be, without constant input from technology. The tools that the school district employs to limit access in schools do not work the way they need to, and it is too much to ask a teacher with 30 kids in a classroom to monitor every tablet while they also teach, address behavior, and complete other duties as related to their job.

The districts need to change their policies regarding screen access in schools." 


The landscape is shifting quickly, and I hope this helps keep us all informed and the lines of communication open as our district considers a path forward.  I'm happy to share additional resources or support this process in whatever way is useful. I look forward to meeting many of you soon and continuing the conversation.  
Sincerely,