LARGO, Fla. — The Pinellas County School Board approved a new district-wide cellphone policy at a meeting on Tuesday evening.
The board voted 6 to 0 to approve a policy impacting all grade levels.
"Prior to today, we had a school-by-school-based policy when it came to cellphone usage, so schools could have different policies. They could have different consequences. Some might have more strict, some might have lighter," said Pinellas School Board chairperson Laura Hine.
Under the new policy, students can have cell phones at school, but usage depends on grade level.
Elementary and middle school students must have their cell phones off and out of sight. Elementary school children are allowed to use their phones after school to communicate with parents about transportation.
High school students are not to use their phones in class, but they can use them before and after school. They may also use their phones during lunch and while transitioning from class to class.
"Elementary is off and away, middle school is off and away, and high school is off or silent and away during class. You may use it during passing time and during lunchtime," said Hine.
Laura Hine is chairperson of the Pinellas County School Board. She is also a mother of school-aged children. She said she visited all of the district's high schools, met with parents and students before voting on a new policy.
"Our high schoolers, a number of them have a lot of responsibilities whether it’s picking up their younger siblings after school. Some of them during lunch are taking a job interview. There’s a lot more going on in high school, so to let them have that responsibility, I think, is appropriate," said Hine.
Superintendent Kevin Hendrick said the district will also educate students about appropriate cellphone usage.
The district plans to roll out a "Digital Citizenship Campaign."
"So it's not just about put your phone away, but how do we educate students on why it’s important not to have your phone out in school, but also how to use your phone appropriately, and so you’re going to hear more about that campaign in July at our July workshop and that will also roll out at the same time as the implementation of the new cellphone plan," said Superintendent Kevin Hendrick.
The district recognizes that some parents will provide their students with smartwatches for safety reasons, emergency communication purposes, or location tracking.
The rules applicable to wireless communication devices apply to smartwatches, but students may wear smartwatches only in silent mode during the instructional day so there will not be a disruption to the classroom.
"We decided to take a step back, look at the cell phone policy, and see what are the reasonable measures, the reasonable updates that we can make that our teachers and our administrators can enforce that our families can buy into and that we can apply and make sure that we can have better stronger education," said Hine.
The district-wide policy starts in August when students return to school.
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