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Board debates tightening cell‑phone rules for students; agrees to narrow change for high schools
Summary
Board members at a Clay County School Board workshop debated whether students should be required to power off and stow mobile devices during school hours and extracurriculars, with a working agreement to restore a powered‑off requirement while keeping a high‑school lunchtime exception.
Board members discussed revisions to the district’s Wireless Communication Device (WCD) policy and aired divergent views on whether students should be required to power off and stow phones during school hours and extracurricular activities.
Board member Miss Gilhausen argued teachers and many elementary and middle-school staff support a strict approach: "they should be powered off," she said, reporting that teachers told her the requirement would reduce classroom distractions. Hanson and others cited practices in other districts, including Brevard County, where administrators perform checks to ensure phones are powered off.
Several board members supported a strict "powered-off and put away" expectation for instructional time and many non-instructional times, saying consistent enforcement would help teachers. One board member said she favored a full "bell-to-bell" approach for consistency. Others — including board members and staff who work at high schools — urged an exception for high-school lunchtime to allow students to manage after-school logistics (job scheduling, meal purchases or communications with family). A staff member noted practical challenges: administrators already have many responsibilities and strict, high-fidelity enforcement would require dedicated effort.
After extended discussion, the board reached a working consensus on two points: (1) staff should direct Neola to reinsert the clause in the WCD policy requiring that WCDs be powered off and stored (the transcript records a request to "direct Neola to add a back into the policy" to restore language about powering off and placing phones in backpacks), and (2) for high schools the board would retain a lunchtime exception so students can use phones during their lunch period. Board members also asked staff to clarify in administrative procedures how enforcement checks (for example, first-period phone checks) would work and how recovered phones would be handled.
Speakers in the exchange included Miss Gilhausen, Miss Hanson (presenter), Madam Chair, Mister Brodsky (staff), Miss Clark and others. The record records no formal roll-call vote on the policy language during the workshop.
