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Board adopts district cell-phone ban and approves four overnight student trips
Summary
The board approved policy JICJ (prohibiting personal electronic devices bell-to-bell with exceptions for medical/IEP/first responders) by voice vote and approved four multi-day student trips — Catawba Ridge FFA to Indianapolis, Fort Mill High TV program to Florida, Banks Trail fine-arts to Orlando, and Forest Creek eighth-grade trip to Washington, D.C.
The board voted to adopt policy JICJ, which prohibits personal electronic communication devices (including cell phones and internet-capable smartwatches) during the school day from bell to bell, with stated exceptions for students with individual education plans, medical plans or 504 plans and for students serving as first responders. Mr. Young, presenting the second reading, described those exceptions and implementation practices in classrooms. "This is the second reading of policy JICJ," Mr. Young said, adding the state proviso attached to the budget drives the policy and that the district has put processes in place to accommodate students with documented needs.
A motion to adopt the policy was made and seconded; the board approved it by voice vote with no recorded roll-call tally. Several board members and administrators described classroom approaches such as baskets or drop-off systems so phones are accessible in emergencies but not in general use.
Separately, the board approved four overnight student trips that require board approval because they exceed three school days: Catawba Ridge High School FFA to the national CTE convention in Indianapolis; Fort Mill High School's student news TV program "The Buzz" to a national convention in Florida; a Banks Trail Middle School fine-arts trip to Orlando for band, chorus and art students; and a Forest Creek Middle School eighth-grade trip to Washington, D.C. Dr. Waixness presented the memo in the board packet and confirmed the trips are regular annual activities and not during testing windows.
Votes: both motions passed by voice vote; no individual roll-call tallies were provided in the meeting transcript.
Why it matters: policy JICJ changes daily student-device rules across the district and the approved trips allow curricular or co-curricular groups to attend national events that require out-of-state travel.
