Mountrail County Promoter - Columnists

A Few Tips For Back To School Safety
It is officially back to school season. Stanley Schools opened this morning, likely long before any of you picked up your paper. Classes started in New Town last week. North Shore/Plaza is starting today and Parshall starts tomorrow. With the opening of school brings more kids on bikes as they head back and forth enjoying some of the last nice days of the season.
It’s time for us as motorists to be sure we’re looking for kids heading back and forth, whether they are walking or riding their bike. We need to be aware that they aren’t always the best at paying attention to us, so we need to watch for them.
Crosswalk signs are up on Main Street. Watch for kids crossing and give them safe passage back and forth to school.
While we are trying to be aware and keep an eye out, I’m going to share some tips I found for bike riders as well. The information below comes from the National Highway Traffic Administration’s website. I encourage parents to talk to their kids about bicycle safety as they head back to school.
Safe Riding Tips
Before using your bicycle, make sure it is ready to ride. You should always  inspect your bike to make sure all parts are secure and working properly. 
 Remember to: 
* Wear a Properly Fitted Bicycle Helmet. Protect your brain, save your life. 
* Adjust Your Bicycle to Fit. Stand over your bicycle. There should be 1 to 2 inches between you and the top tube (bar) if using a road bike and 3 to 4 inches if a mountain bicycle. The seat should be level front to back. The seat height should be adjusted to allow a slight bend at the knee when the leg is fully extended. The handlebar height should be at the same level with the seat.
* Check Your Equipment. Before riding, inflate tires properly and check that your brakes work.
* See and Be Seen. Whether daytime, dawn, dusk, foul weather, or at night, you need to be seen by others. Wearing white has not been shown to make you more visible. Rather, always wear neon, fluorescent, or other bright colors when riding day or night. Also wear something that reflects light, such as reflective tape or markings, or flashing lights. Remember, just because you can see a driver doesn’t mean the driver can see you.
* Control Your Bicycle. Always ride with at least one hand on the handlebars. Carry books and other items in a bicycle carrier or backpack. 
* Watch for and Avoid Road Hazards. Be on the lookout for hazards such as potholes, broken glass, gravel, puddles, leaves, and dogs. All these hazards can cause a crash. If you are riding with friends and you are in the lead, yell out and point to the hazard to alert the riders behind you.
* Avoid Riding at Night. It is far more dangerous to ride at night than during the day because you are harder for others to see. If you have to ride at night, wear something that makes you more easily seen by others. Make sure you have reflectors on the front and rear of your bicycle (white lights on the front and red rear reflectors are required by law in many States), in addition to reflectors on your tires, so others can see you.
Many bicycle-related crashes resulting in injury or death are associated with the bicyclist’s behavior, including such things as not wearing a bicycle helmet, riding into a street without stopping, turning left or swerving into traffic that is coming from behind, running a stop sign, and riding the wrong way in traffic. To maximize your safety, always wear a helmet AND follow the rules of the road. 
Rules of the Road – Bicycling on the Road     
Bicycles in many States are considered vehicles, and cyclists have the same rights and the same responsibilities to follow the rules of the road as motorists. When riding, always:
* Go With the Traffic Flow. Ride on the right in the same direction as other vehicles. Go with the flow – not against it.
* Obey All Traffic Laws. A bicycle is a vehicle and you’re a driver. When you ride in the street, obey all traffic signs, signals, and lane markings.
* Yield to Traffic When Appropriate. Almost always, drivers on a smaller road must yield (wait) for traffic on a major or larger road. If there is no stop sign or traffic signal and you are coming from a smaller roadway (out of a driveway, from a sidewalk, a bike path, etc.), you must slow down and look to see if the way is clear before proceeding. This also means yielding to pedestrians who have already entered a crosswalk. 
* Be Predictable. Ride in a straight line, not in and out of cars. Signal your moves to others. 
* Stay Alert at All Times. Use your eyes AND ears. Watch out for potholes, cracks, wet leaves, storm grates, railroad tracks, or anything that could make you lose control of your bike. You need your ears to hear traffic and avoid dangerous situations; don’t wear a headset when you ride. 
* Look Before Turning. When turning left or right, always look behind you for a break in traffic, then signal before making the turn. Watch for left- or right-turning traffic.
* Watch for Parked Cars. Ride far enough out from the curb to avoid the unexpected from parked cars (like doors opening, or cars pulling out).
For more information on bicycle safety, visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) website at: www.nhtsa.dot.gov.
A New Situation For Some Schools
As kids head back to school this year, many schools are being faced with the new legislation regarding cell phone and personal electronics use in schools. Senate Bill 2354, which took effect on August 1, prohibits public school students from having access to cellphones and other electronic devices in school from “bell to bell”. The law requires cell phones to be silenced and stowed away during the school day. It mandates that school districts collect data to measure the impact of the policy on student behavior, mental health, disciplinary incidents, school attendance and academic performance.
For schools like Stanley, this is not as big of a change. There has been a cell phone policy in place for years. The new law, however, does make some changes to what they have done. For instance, teachers had been allowing students to use their cell phones in some classes. There were other instances and times where cell phone use was not prohibited.
With this new law, Stanley’s School Board was tasked with updating their policy.
The high school policy has changed in the following ways:
Starting this school year, students may no longer bring personal laptops or tablets to school.
Every student will be assigned a school-issued device to use during the day.
This change will help reduce distractions from messaging apps, games, and social media, and ensure that all students have the correct software and safeguards to stay on task.
Important Notes:
• Students in college classes may use a personal device for that class only.
• All Stanley High School classes must be completed on a school-issued device.
• Devices will be distributed at the start of the year.
• Students are responsible for any damage to their assigned device.
At Stanley High School, phones must be powered off and kept in lockers.
Smartwatches must be in airplane mode to avoid distractions.
Wireless earbuds are not allowed. Students may use wired headphones only. Junior high students will need USB-C headphones to work with their Chromebooks.
Violation consequences have also changed:
• 1st Offense: Parent must pick up the phone.
• 2nd Offense: Parent pick-up + detention until 4:15 PM.
• 3rd+ Offense: Parent pick-up + 2 Day OSS.
If a student continues to violate the policy and reaches 10 OSS days, expulsion procedures will be initiated.
Information at the elementary school includes:
Cell phones, smart watches, Gizmo calling devices, etc. should be powered off and either stored in students lockers or checked in with classroom teachers. Consequences for breaking school policy will result in the following disciplinary consequences:  
K-4:
1st violation: Device sent to office, a call will be placed home to notify parents/guardians of the violation.
2nd violation: Device will be sent to the office, parents/guardians will need to pick up the device from the office.
3rd violation: Required meeting with administration to discuss the violations and planning to prevent future violations.
Grades 5 and 6: 
1st violation: Device sent to the office, parents/guardians must pick up the devices.
2nd violation: Device sent to the office, parents/guardians must pick up the device, student will serve after school detention.
3rd violation: Device sent to the office, parents/guardians must pick up the device, 2 Days OSS, required meeting with administration to discuss preventative measures and future consequences.
Because Stanley has had a cell phone policy for several years, one of the greatest challenges might be the state’s mandated reporting. For schools without an existing policy, documentation may look significantly different from schools like Stanley. For schools with an existing policy, they have already seen many of the changes that the state is looking for and detailing any “new” impacts could be difficult.