Staff representing four elementary, middle and high schools will give an overview of the current policy and practices in schools for portable electronic devices and make recommendations for changes, guided by feedback from teachers, administrators and unions representing staff, according to the presentation posted online.
One recommendation is to remove all student cellphone use in the classroom. Currently, cellphone use is allowed in classrooms for instructional purposes.
Students with health issues or Section 504 and Individualized Education plans, which require schools to make a “reasonable accommodation” for students with disabilities to allow them to participate in school, may be allowed to still use the devices in classrooms if the policy changes, the presentation notes.
The presentation also recommends that the school system develop and implement a clear information campaign about the policy for the start of next school year and expand professional learning opportunities for staff on classroom management.
Teachers have shared frustrations about cellphones being a “disruption to instruction” and have said that enforcement of the current policy “takes time away from instruction,” according to the presentation. Additionally, allowing cellphone use “can compound problems related to bullying,” it states.
Principals have said cellphones and devices such as smart watches have become problematic in schools and buses, and inconsistent implementation of the policy has caused issues. They list “families texting and calling students during the school day” as an additional challenge, according to the presentation.
The school system’s current portable electronic device policy allows middle and high school students to use cellphones before and after school and during class if a teacher allows phone use for instructional purposes. High school students may use their devices in hallways and during lunch. Middle school students can only use their devices during lunch with administrator permission.
Generally, elementary school students are not allowed to use their phones anywhere but in classrooms, in the media center, and during field trips, unless otherwise directed by a staff member.
The board approved the current “bring your own device policy” in November 2022. The policy, developed in 2002 and revised in July 2019, is generally aimed at cellphone use, but states that it covers “any non-stationary electronic apparatus with singular or multiple capabilities of recording, storing, processing, and/or transmitting data, video, photographic images, and/or voice emanations.”
School board members will have the opportunity to ask questions at the end of the presentation.
School board meetings are open to the public and livestreamed on the Carroll County Public Schools YouTube channel and viewable on the right side of the Board of Education’s website at carrollk12.org/board-of-education/meeting-information, under CETV Livestream. Meetings are also broadcast throughout the month on Carroll Educational Television, Ch. 21.
Anyone who wishes to participate during the public participation portion of school board meetings must fill out an online sign-up form at https://www.carrollk12.org/board-of-education/meeting-information or call the communications office at 410-751-3020 by 9 p.m., on the Tuesday before a meeting.
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