Phone policy could change

Student cellphones may be under different rules at Jay County High School next year.

Jay School Board members are weighing a proposed change in the student handbook and expect to make a decision at their May 22 meeting.

“Our teachers are continually battling the phones,” JCHS principal Chad Dodd told the board. “The phones in the classrooms are detrimental.”

Current policy on cellphones was developed when the school was starting its BYOD (bring your own device) program for use of the internet in the classroom. At that time, cellphones were found to be of use educationally in certain classroom settings.

The policy states that cellphones or similar electronic devices may be carried by students but must be silenced or turned off and only used for educational purposes with the consent of the classroom teacher.

But today that policy is routinely ignored and disobeyed, Dodd told the board.

The proposed change would require that cellphones and equivalent electronic devices be stored in student lockers during the school day unless specifically needed by teachers for educational purposes.

At the urging of superintendent Jeremy Gulley, high school officials contacted a number of local employers to find out what workplace rules are the norm for cellphones today. Their finding was that employee cellphone use was limited to lunch and break time.

Gulley said he wanted the board to wait a month before acting on the handbook change in order for board members to get public input.

He also suggested waiting until the May 22 meeting to act on a proposed $15 fee for each class uploaded by students using the Credit Recovery program.

“Next month, I’ll have a recommendation on these two subjects,” Gulley said.

The date of the May meeting was moved from May 15 to May 22 to accommodate the busy calendar at the end of the school year.

Board members approved four other minor changes in the handbook’s language.