As school begins over the next several weeks, tighter cell phone policies will go into effect for students, and teachers will also be reminded about using phones during class time.
Warren County Director of Schools Grant Swallows said teachers are still allowed to access phones, but they are still held to the same usage standards as students between the bells.
“One of the things that I said to [teachers] last year was simply, ‘Let’s model the correct behavior for our students,'” Swallows said. “If we’re asking our students to be engaged in what they’re doing in the classroom, that means the teacher needs to be engaged in what they’re doing in the classroom.”
Jackson County Director of Schools Jason Hardy said his district will soon make a decision on its phone policy for next year. Hardy said phones are currently not allowed during instructional time. Hardy said the current phone policy for teachers is slightly different, but the standard remains the same.
“If there’s no cell phones in that classroom, it shouldn’t be by anybody,” Hardy said. “We know that the times have changed with cell phones, but we’ve got to protect our instructional time. We’ll treat our teachers like professionals, but the expectation is that instructional time is for the students and teachers to be active and engaged in the lessons, and cell phones shouldn’t be out during those times.”
Swallows said the district recognizes technology is here to stay, and that it can be a useful tool when properly utilized. Swallows said Warren County teachers still use their phones for professional functions during the school day.
“There are so many different tools we need [teachers] to be able to access with their technology,” Swallows said. “They submit attendance via their app on their phone. We have some safety apps that are on their phone where, you know, if there’s a fire alarm called, they have to potentially look at the app.”
Swallows said nothing is ever perfect, but the first year of the Warren County cell phone policy was a success. He said a key was properly communicating to teachers, students, and community members about the expectations.
White County School Board members asked that teachers be reminded of their responsibility with cell phones during a recent meeting.
