CHARLESOTN, W.Va. –The Kanawha County Board of Education is seeking feedback from the public and educators on their new proposed cell phone ban policy.
Kate White
The board held the first reading of the policy during its meeting on July 7. This follows the passage of House Bill 2003 by the legislature in April, which was then signed by Governor Patrick Morrisey. The bill requires all counties to establish a cell phone ban policy.
Board member Kate White appeared on MetroNews Talkline Friday morning to encourage the public to submit comments while the opportunity is still available.
“This is an attempt to give schools some ability to address whether the (Yondr) pouches might be good for them or boxes might be good for them,” White said. “When we met the other day, the other board members brought up, I think we do need to know what each school is intending to do and how they’re intending to have storage happen.”
Currently, Horace Mann Middle School is the only school in the county to use the pouches, which are provided to individual students to store their phones during the school day.
White said that while this approach isn’t currently being considered countywide, the board will still welcome recommendations from administrators if they believe it would be effective for their school.
In the draft version of the policy, students would be allowed to have their phones on campus; however, they would not be permitted to use them during instructional time. Phones would need to be turned off and kept out of site, whether in a pouch or a designated box in the classroom.
White also noted that the use of smart watches will need to be considered, as they can be used for communication as well.
“When we were talking about the policy the other day, it was brought up that Apple Watches that are connected and can communicate would be something that technically have to be limited,” she said. “So, I think that there are going to be some things to work through with that.”
However, there would be some exceptions and accommodations made for students with a 504 plan, IEP, or documented medical conditions. In such cases, appropriate documentation must be submitted to the school by a parent or guardian.
One issue raised during the meeting -and reiterated by White Friday- was concern over ensuring consistency in how students are disciplined if caught with their phones.
“We don’t want to see, particularly the discipline side of this be inconsistent, whereas some schools the discipline is much more strict or high on certain things and other schools it isn’t, so that’s something we’re going to have to watch and monitor,” White said.
The draft policy outlines the following consequences: first offense, a verbal warning and confiscation of the device; second offense a phone call to parent and in-person retrieval of the phone, and for any subsequent offenses, additional disciplinary actions would be taken.
White noted that before the policy can be approved, the board must still meet certain requirements outlined in the bill.
She added that regardless of which policy is ultimately adopted there will be an adjustment period for everyone.
“I think we all need to be realistic about this, it will be hard for students, but I think that students particularly high schoolers who are used to this will have a hard time,” she said. “I know that there are parents that are concerned, I know there are parents that are in support of it. So, I think there’s a mix there, but I think that we need to be realistic about the challenges that this will be a withdrawal for students and there will be an adjustment period.”
Comments on the policy can emailed to [email protected].
The comment period ends on August 8th.
