A committee of the Wake County Public Schools Board of Education approved a draft policy on Tuesday that would limit student cell phone use during the school day. The discussion comes as lawmakers in the North Carolina General Assembly are working on a possible statewide ban.
Wake County began working on the policy last year. Administrators and board members pointed to a patchwork of rules and policies across the district, with some schools placing more restrictions on phone use than others.
“Just going through individual school websites, you could find some policies were very general and some were very specific,” board chair Chris Heagerty said at an October meeting. “In some cases, there’s justification for it. In other cases, it was, well, ‘let me just look and see what another school is doing.'”
The district solicited feedback from students, families, and educators as it drafted the new policy. According to a focus group, students admitted feeling distracted by social media feeds and notifications. Others said they felt disconnected from family and friends if they weren’t able to check their phones. Teachers emphasized the need for consistent policies and consequences for possible violations.
Under the new policy, all students would be required to turn off their phones or keep them in airplane mode during the school day. There are exceptions. For example, students on Individualized Education Plans or Individualized Health Plans could keep their devices on. Phone use would also be allowed for “instructional purposes” with a teacher’s permission. Students could also turn on their phones in a “sudden emergency” like a lockdown or active shooter situation. High school principals would have leeway to permit students to use their phones during lunch, breaks, or classroom transitions. School administrators would also have the power to regulate if students can use their phones on buses.
For students who violate the policy, administrators would have the power to temporarily confiscate devices. The policy also lays out parameters for when school staff could search a student’s phone.
The full board will vote on the policy at its April 22 meeting. Meanwhile, state lawmakers are considering a statewide ban with similar exceptions to the Wake County policy. The Senate approved the bill earlier this month and it passed its first reading in the House this week.
