Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Comment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Students and parents press Piedmont board on phone ban — safety and enforcement top concerns
Summary
Public commenters ranged from students citing emergency communications to parent groups urging bell-to-bell bans; speakers urged the board to weigh enforcement feasibility, equity and student well-being.
Public comment at the meeting focused heavily on the cell-phone options presented by the task force.
Students and several parents urged different approaches. Student Alex Gish warned that students already know ways to evade phone-hotel systems and questioned whether enforcement resources are justified. Parent Sarah Bell cited a recent JAMA Pediatrics summary about in-school device time and urged the board to "be bold and nimble" in restricting phones. Student Dylan Hickman described a recent lockdown when his phone allowed him to contact family and said restricting access could complicate emergency communications: "It kind of gave me the chance to... reach out... and I was able to reach out to... my sister who's at the middle school." Parent Amanda Straub and members of Piedmont Unplugged urged the board to move toward a phone-free school day citing research on distraction, while Brooke Wall framed the issue as a generational public-health matter.
The board heard these contrasting perspectives and repeatedly asked staff to balance student safety, enforcement burden and the value of preserving open-campus lunch. Trustees indicated they wanted a path that could be operationalized without overloading teachers and that would preserve emergency exceptions.
