Williamson County adopts new phone policy requiring secure storage, allows high school access at lunch

The Williamson County Board of Education on Nov. 17 adopted a substantially revised wireless-communications policy that requires the district to develop a secure way to store students' phones during the school day while explicitly allowing students in grades 9–12 access to their devices during assigned lunch periods.

Board member Dr. Tanya Reeves, who brought the initial amendment, said the change was aimed at removing phones from students’ immediate possession during instruction. Reeves moved to replace the general paragraph of the policy so that “all such devices must remain silenced and not carried on the student's person, for example, in a pocket or held in the hand during the school day,” and to create exceptions allowing limited lunch access under secure-storage systems. Dr. Reeves said the motion was driven by classroom disruption and enforcement concerns and to create a clear district standard.

Proponents and parents at the meeting cited…