Board hears cell-phone survey; staff recommends waiting for possible state action before changing policy

Division staff presented results of a fall survey on student cell-phone use and recommended the board keep the current policy in place for the remainder of the school year while monitoring pending state legislation.

The presenter said 177 staff members, more than 1,000 students in grades 6–12 and about 300 parents responded to the survey. The current policy allows no personal-device use in pre-K–5; phones are allowed but must be silenced and out of sight in middle school; and in grades 9–12 phones are to be placed in a classroom storage location while in instructional spaces. The division also allows restricted phone use on school buses.

The Virginia Department of Education guidance on “bell-to-bell” expectations — which recommends that devices be off and put away from the start to the end of the instructional day, including lunch — was discussed, and the presenter told the board a Virginia Senate bill is pending that would require school boards to publish developmentally appropriate possession-and-use policies and include protections for students with IEPs and 504 plans. The presenter said the bill also would prohibit suspension or expulsion for a phone policy violation.

After reviewing survey results — which showed staff and parents more likely than students to see phones as a classroom distraction — the presenter recommended no policy change midyear and suggested any substantive change be adopted July 1 to take effect with the student handbook for the following school year.

Board members expressed support for waiting. “I’m in favor of leaving the policy as it is for now. Let’s see what the General Assembly does,” one board member said. No formal policy change was made at the meeting.