The Cumberland County School Board approved a new cell phone policy Thursday night, with many of the details still up in the air.
The new policy will require students to store their cell phones in school-approved systems during the school day. Board Member Shannon Stout said the board is preparing to receive a lot of phone calls from parents about the new policy.
“For all the government overreach talk, this is legislative,” Stout said. “So I think all the schools have identified an issue with this, and they have given us somebody to blame it on. So there’s really, I mean, we have to follow what the law says.”
One detail of the policy that is still undecided is cell phone storage systems. Director of Schools Rebecca Farley said the school system is considering locking pouches.
“At the last meeting we had one that the high schools will probably use, but I think there’s another one that is similar to that,” Farley said. “But the unlocking piece is quicker and easier accessibility, like you can carry in your pocket, because that unlocking device was about like this (larger), so you can carry it in your pocket. So we can probably get more, and plus it’s a little bit cheaper. So that’s what we are looking at, at the high school level. At the elementary schools, we are looking at, like storage devices and dividers that lock, that can go from classroom to classroom with groups of students.”
The board also discussed how the school system would pay for pouches or storage devices. The board discussed using funds from the fund balance to purchase the pouches and charging the parents for the pouches. Board Member Scott VanWinkle said he was for parents paying for the pouches.
“We could make the policy to not allow phones at all,” VanWinkle said. “So if we do that, then we don’t have to worry about this. That’s why I think in that instance, we can require them to purchase these.”
Stout said parents could have the option to not pay for the pouch or storage device. A parent could decide to keep the phone at home or buy the pouch so the student could bring it. Board Member Travis Cole said he felt like the school should be responsible for the pouches and storage devices.
“I kind of think it should be our responsibility if we are the ones passing the rules to have a certain item, a required item for them to go to school with their equipment, then you know, if we have the parents be the source of funding for this, then you are gonna get into hardships and left it to custodial parents,” Cole said. “You know, that’s opening up a door. If this is our rules, then we need to own it, we need to pay for it.”
The final concern the board had was about the disciplinary actions for teachers failing to enforce the policy. Stout suggested that the policy needed to address disciplinary actions for teachers.
“It sounds like enforcement is an issue if we are hearing that these are the problems coming out of the high school,” Stout said. “So it sounds like we need to have something somewhere, whether that be if it’s not at the policy level, then at the procedural level, and how the staff is held accountable to the policy itself.”
The board agreed that there is some aspects of the policy that need to be fine-tuned. A motion was made to initially table the decision, but the motion failed as the board is on a time crunch to have a policy that meets the state law and is in place before the start of the school year.
Board Member Nicholas Davis was not for approving the policy during the meeting.
“We haven’t established the source of funding, clear cut,” Davis said. “We waffle on hundreds and thousands of dollars, and then we are automatically mandated by the state to do something in a very knee-jerk type fashion, without very clear language. I fear that we are not in compliance, even though there is no support to make us comply. And I don’t operate very well under those conditions, and I don’t feel like the school district and the citizens of Cumberland County should be required to either until there is better funding or better language.”
Farley said if the school system is unable to get touches before the school year, each school will have to come up with its own storage method until pouches are acquired. Farley said she will let families know of the new policy change.
In other business, the board approved two testing coordinators and DHA board members.
The board tabled a decision to purchase a sports management program called Final Forms. One contributing factor to delaying the decision was that the school board has not yet approved its fiscal year budget.
