Editor's Note: This story was reported by Braylon Youker and the accompanying artwork by Savannah Scheffer as part of the Fall 2024 Kalamazoo Voices of Youth Program. The program is a collaboration between Southwest Michigan Second Wave and KYD Network in partnership with the YMCA of Greater Kalamazoo, funded by the Stryker Johnston Foundation. The Voices of Youth Program is led by Earlene McMichael. VOY mentors were Al Jones (writing) and Casey Grooten (art). 

Please also see the Voices of Youth interview with KPS Superintendent Dr. Darrin Slade by VOY Writer Regina Kibezi. 

KALAMAZOO, MI — Each day, 12,298 students in the Kalamazoo Public Schools district walk into class and prepare to learn.

But as they enter, the high school students and middle schoolers are instructed to remove their hats, hoods, scarves, and headphones. They are also told they must wear their student IDs around their necks at all times, and they are told that cell phones may not be used in class.
 
Students wonder why. Some say there has been more enforcement of certain rules this past year than there ever used to be. They are unsure why changes have been made. Some even say they feel it is harming their learning. 

“The kids at my school, they’re always talking about how, like, they don’t like them (the rules),” says Kalamazoo Central High School sophomore Malaya McNairy. “But that’s just because they’re actually like addicted to their phones, and they don’t really want to get a good education.”


Kalamazoo Central junior Anas Elkafrawy isn’t a big fan of the rules. “The rules themselves are a distraction,” he says. “Students are always worried about getting in trouble.”

But Darrin Slade, Ph.D., who has been big on enforcing rules since he was named superintendent of Kalamazoo Public Schools last year, says there are good reasons for more strict enforcement of rules for student conduct, for how students participate in class, and how they participate in other activities.

“It will make the classroom environment more orderly,” he says. “It will make the transition during the change of periods more orderly. It will make the cafeteria period more orderly.”

He says rules help establish an environment that allows students to learn and one they can count on every day. “If you learn how to respect rules and adhere to rules at a young age, you will continue to do that when you (work),” Slade says.

But what’s the issue with cell phones? 

In addition to rules against blatantly illegal actions (such as possessing weapons, using drugs, assault, touching another person with intent to do injury, making a bomb threat, pulling a false fire alarm, criminal sexual conduct, extortion, using illegal substances, and failure to stop fighting), many students say the most hard-hitting rule is not being allowed to use phones or earbuds during instructional time.

Some students argue that their phones help them with their learning. And, at times, teachers allow them to use their phones to help with an assignment. Some wonder how strict regulation will make them more successful students.

“Phone usage, to an extent, can be helpful,” Elkafrawy says. He says he thinks administrators should prioritize students' needs instead of changing or ramping up rules.

Shubar Branson, a senior at Kalamazoo Public Schools’ Phoenix High School, agrees. “There’s a lot of restrictions,” Branson says. “I feel like everything is already online. Like, we learned online and stuff like that. Why we can’t use our phones to learn?” 

But Slade counters: “I will say 99.99% of the teachers will tell you that cell phones are a big distraction.” 

Students are distracted by friends trying to text or talk with them, he says, or trying to keep up with things that are going on in other places, or trying to explore a lot of other things.

Teachers have prohibited the free use of cell phones in class for a long time. However, some teachers are more lenient than others, students say. During a recent interview, that came as news to Slade, who says he wants to establish a uniform environment so students know what to expect wherever they attend in the district.

“If you have a cell phone and you’re allowed to use it, you’ll have students on there texting and being on social media,” he says. “So, it's just to make sure students focus on the teacher and what’s being taught during the time they’re in class.” 

Where tougher rules come from

Although Slade has only been at KPS for one school year, the results from his previous districts seem to speak for themselves. When he was with the Kansas City Public Schools, where he was assistant superintendent of school leadership from July 2018 to September of 2023, it was “the lowest-performing district in the whole state of Missouri. It had an F grade. It was a failing district,” Slade recalls.

But he says, “We took it from an F to a C in three years.” 

Artist: Savannah ScheffersA strict approach to rule enforcement in Kalamazoo comes from Slade’s experience in that district and at school districts in Baltimore from August 1997 to August 2002, and Washington, D.C., from August 2002 to June 2018. He has been described as a no-nonsense administrator who came here with plans to improve student achievement. 

He says his former district’s F in terms of its academic success correlated with its enforcement of rules, at least until better standards were set for them. Before starting in Kalamazoo Public Schools in July of 2023, he had rated it a C, which he hopes to raise to an A. He says he hopes for continued improved standards for student conduct, along with additional support for teachers and attention to address students’ needs.

School board rates Slade high

For his efforts since starting as superintendent, he received a “highly effective” rating from the Kalamazoo Board of Education. That happened in June 2024. The district’s high school graduation rate was just under 66% when he started, according to news reports. That’s its lowest level in the last 10 years. At the same time, the statewide average was just under 82%. Slade has said he is shooting for a 90% graduation rate.

Slade says he is also working to improve the district’s student absenteeism rate, which he hopes will improve academic achievement and graduation rates. In the years following the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, chronic absenteeism (where a student misses 18 days or more during a school year) jumped from 27% to just over 50%, according to MLive Media Group. The news organization reported chronic absenteeism dropped to about 40% through last March. 

That data coincides with a program Slade implemented to contact parents automatically (through texts and robocalls) when their children miss school. More involved responses are required from parents and students if absences continue. 

“We went from a 50% chronic absence rate,” he says, “to 40%. A 10-point decrease or decline.”

Students talk about the rules

Branson, the senior at Phoenix High School, an educational building with smaller class sizes to boost student success, says he hears people complain about the rules all the time. But he thinks the enforcement of the rules is fair. 


Malaya McNairy, a sophomore at Kalamazoo Central, agrees. “I don’t think it’s unfair at all.” About quiet times in the hallways, she says, “I don’t think that’s bad either. It’s just common sense.”

Although Kalamazoo’s Loy Norrix High School sophomore Michael McDonald says “kids vape a lot in my school,” he has a high opinion of Slade. 


“(He) is a good superintendent who is doing what he came here to do,” McDonald says. “If we’re talking about kids’ education, trying to get kids to learn, I don’t think he’s doing a bad job at all. Personally, I haven’t seen any flaws from him at all.”

But one rule does confound even Slade’s supporters. Branson and other students wonder why they’re not allowed to wear hoodies with the hooded part up.

“Phoenix is a small school,” Branson says. “You’re going to see the same people in the school, like their faces and stuff. I feel like putting a hood on, things like that, I feel like that (restricting that) is a little overdoing it when they know who you are. You sit in the same spot every day. You go to the same classes every day. I feel like they should get rid of that rule.”

A matter of safety and security?

Part of the administration’s job is to make sure students have a good learning environment, says Vincent Hodge, Ph.D., the school psychologist for Gull Lake Community Schools. Students are not allowed to wear hats, hoods, or scarves, mainly to ensure the safety of all the students in a school building. 

Of hoodies, Hodge says: “Some people think it’s a social statement. Some people think it’s just a matter of comfort. But, as a person who’s trying to keep people safe, it’s a safety issue.”

He says there are adults who enter school buildings for nefarious reasons — to sell drugs, pick up girls, or harm students.

“I’ve seen people walk into my building with hoodies and I didn’t recognize them until I actually approached them,” Hodge says. “So, right away a person in a hoodie becomes a safety threat. It becomes a situation where you don’t know who you’re dealing with.”

Another reason to not wear such things is as a sign of respect for the educational process, he says.

“As the new superintendent, I’m pretty sure Dr. Slade did a pretty good overview of the schools, looked at the data, visited some buildings, saw some things, and he brought in his own history,” Hodge says. “With that history, he probably experienced what happens when you don’t have those things in place.”


Slade meets with students

Slade says he doesn’t get many direct complaints from students, even though he is around students often. 


In recent months, Slade says he has visited about 15 classes to talk about “why we’re doing A, B, and C.” “That’s 15 classes in a big school,” he explains, “which does seem like a lot (Kalamazoo Central has about 1,600 students).” In an interview for this article conducted in October, he said he hoped to gain feedback from at least another 100 students across the district by the end of November to help shape the enforcement of rules in the future. 

Could students be intimidated to approach a top administrator?  

Slade, who has worked as an educator for more than 34 years, always wears a suit and tie and carries himself like he is focused and busy. 

He had a much less serious look when he met with Voices of Youth reporters, as he talked about accompanying students on educational and fun trips, like museums and college campuses. He also said he attends a lot of extracurricular student activities in school.

Slade says he’s open to hearing students’ concerns. 

“Students, teachers, and faculty are the most important aspect of this district,” he says.

Trying to attain the best results

Despite students’ reactions, Slade says he wants what is best for them and believes that the enforcement of rules is what creates a more enriching learning environment.

And there’s been benefits outside the classroom, too. Slade says he’s proud of the performance of the Kalamazoo Central and Loy Norrix football teams this year. Both ended the season with winning records, and he noted that there have been no problems for students, family members, and anyone else who attends their games.

Slade attributes that to making sure everyone in the district, including principals and teachers, are working with the same understanding. Enforcement of rules is a part of that, he says.

“We had a major problem with students dropping out in this district,” Slade says. “And that was a serious issue. … So, the goal is to make sure that students finish school and students gain a high school diploma. And then once they do that — whatever they want to be — we have provided them with the resources to be.” 

What’s next?

Loy Norrix student Michael McDonald pointed out a positive effect of one of the rules — the no-cell-phones rule. 

“The notifications and stuff, what they call it dopamine, it like affects me,” McDonald says. “And I always check my phone.”

He says that happens when he is supposed to be doing his work. So, he thinks, “I don’t think the (phone) rule is bad at all.”

Slade thanks students for making improvements possible. 

“It’s better this year than it was last year because we started last year,” Slade says. “Students walked through the door this year knowing about the cell phone policy. There was way more pushback last year. Not as bad this year.”  

He is optimistic things can keep getting better. “I just think things will keep improving as long as we all keep doing the same thing— keep being focused. The hard work has to continue. This job is about hard work. No shortcuts in this world. 

“That goes from students on up,” he says.

Braylon Youker is a sophomore at Kalamazoo Central High School in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He enjoys going to the gym, reading, and hanging out with his family. Youker hopes to become an economic diplomat after attending an undergraduate program in Michigan. 

Savannah Scheffers is a freshman at the KAMSC and Schoolcraft Senior High School. In her free time, she enjoys dancing, painting, singing, and lifting weights.

Artist Statement:  I made this piece first on mixed media paper, then digitally. I made this piece to show how authority can seem daunting, even with the most minor of rules. We have the ability to make these figures seem less intimidating by acknowledging and questioning the hold they have on us.