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Substitute urges Oldham County board to tighten phone rules, citing classroom disruptions
Summary
During public expression, substitute teacher Mr. Beeson urged the Oldham County Board to standardize and tighten student phone restrictions, saying schools without phone access show more student interaction and fewer distractions.
At the Dec. 16 Oldham County Board of Education meeting, substitute teacher Mr. Beeson used his allotted four minutes of public expression to urge the board to limit student phone use in district schools.
"When there's not phones in the school, it's a totally different environment," Mr. Beeson said, describing his experience across several district campuses. He said East Oldham Middle and Oldham County High operate with stricter limits and that when phones are allowed freely, students spend downtime watching YouTube or disengaging rather than interacting. "If you take a high schooler, I'm done with my work, I want to use my phone. Do you have anything else to do? No," he said, arguing for clearer, district-level consistency in phone policy.
Board members thanked him for his service as a substitute and noted the question will be considered; no policy change was proposed at the meeting and no board action was taken on the comment. The public expression policy (read earlier in the meeting) allows at least 15 minutes for comments and includes the chair’s ability to require name/address and enforce time limits.
