The Putnam County School Board approved a new cell phone policy Thursday that will require personal communications devices be locked away in magnetic pouches during the school day.
The pouches will be a new reoccurring $200,000 expense for the system. But School Board Member Dr. Dawn Fry called the expense necessary to make sure phones are left alone.
“I’ll just say the reason why I would choose this option is because when we first began looking at the policy I was…we don’t need the pouches,” Fry said. “Then I read the “Anxious Generation.” I’ve got my phone laying right here, for heaven’s sakes. If it buzzed, I’d be right there on it. I think that’s just an extra distraction, a distraction that we’re trying to eliminate.”
School Board Member Jill Ramsey said the pouches will also eliminate another responsibility for teachers and administrators. The board’s previous policy this winter simply mandated that phones be turned off and kept out of site.
“We’ve already tried to have them put up in class, that wasn’t followed,” School Board Member Kim Cravens said. “I think that if you If you want to respect for the policy, that’s probably the best way to go.”
School Board Chair Lynn McHenry said in talks with Warren County, one of the state’s leaders on limiting phones, board members heard many students just no longer bring their phone into school.
Director Of Schools Corby King said the pouches are opened by centrally-located magnets at the end of the day. The vendor does not offer a purchase price for the pouches, meaning the reoccurring cost. King said the vendor said they could have the system in place for the start of the school year.
The policy would cover the school day from 7:45am-3:00pm. Escalating levels of punishment are in place for students caught with the phones, mostly involving parental intervention.
Cravens said parents with messages for students will need to revert to the pre-cell phone approach, calling the school office.
Second reading on the policy will take place at the board’s next meeting.
