Warren County School Board wrestles with cell phone policy

Warren County Public School students will likely face more uniform rules regarding cell phone usage during the school day after a recent survey showed a wide swath of comments from those participating.

At a Wednesday work session, the panel discussed the survey – which separately queried teachers, parents and students about cell phone usage at school. (Discussion begins at 1:59:45 in video below)

Chairwoman Kristen J. Pence, Vice-Chairman Ralph Rinaldi and board members Andrea Lo, Antoinette Funk, and Melanie Salins attended the meeting.

Pence noted that many students responded that cheating and dishonesty were issues with cell phone use. She also cited concerns about photos taken and shared without permission, which is a form of bullying.

Salins stated that she “saw no reason for it (cell phone usage) to be allowed by any teachers in the classroom. I am good with an ‘out of sight’ policy all day. ‘We see it, we take it.’”

Rinaldi voiced support for students having access to their phones during the school day and relayed to the board an experiment he conducted with three students, two from Warren County and his grandchild, a Loudoun County student. Rinaldi said he sent all three students texts during school hours and noted that both Warren County students responded after the school day ended. His grandchild, however, responded to the text immediately, despite being in the classroom.

The teacher survey, Pence said, indicated that some teachers use cell phones as a reward, while others did not, which might put some in a bad light. Whether teachers allow the use of cell phones or not, the survey said nearly half the teachers had to tell students up to five times in each class to put their phones away.

Lo said during the discussion that she favored more consistency regarding student cell phone use, which could be either a set policy or a code of conduct item, which students and parents sign each year.

Board members agreed that the new policy should outline discipline measures for student violations, ranging from warnings to confiscation of the device. Several expressed concern about legal liability for holding expensive personal property and discussed a policy requiring parents to come to the school to retrieve a confiscated phone. The parent survey, however, indicated that only about 20-percent of parents support such a rule.

The board recommended that Superintendent Christopher Ballenger draft a policy encompassing their recommendations, particularly concerning consistency in the county schools.

Also at Wednesday’s work session, board members authorized the superintendent to request that Warren County issue a purchase order for seven 77-passenger buses from Sonny Merryman Inc. at a total cost of $903,693. Six of the buses cost $127,509 each; the seventh bus, which is wheelchair-accessible, will cost $138,693.

The Warren County Board of Supervisors set up a $1-million school bus replacement fund from the division’s fiscal 2020 operating budget surplus. The County agreed to hold the funds until the division was ready to purchase the buses and will issue the purchase order on behalf of the school system because the buses are being ordered in this fiscal year but will not be delivered until January 2023, which is part of the next fiscal year.

The board also voted in favor of a motion to amend an employee’s contract.

Watch the school board work session here: