BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Parents shouldn’t be confused by news of legislation restricting cellphones in public schools. Such restrictions were already in Bradford School District’s code of conduct.
Per the code of conduct, elementary and middle school students are required to power off their phone or other mobile device once they arrive on campus and keep the device out of sight through the end of the day. This is unless a teacher has asked the students to use the phone or device as part of instruction.
In addition to banning phone use from bell to bell statewide, the new legislation eliminated any exception for instructional use for elementary and middle school students.
The school district’s exceptions for Bradford High School and North Florida Technical College remain unchanged. Students are not permitted use their phones during class unless it is part of an assignment. However, they can use them before and after school, during passing periods and when they are at lunch.
Administrators have preferred this to the challenge of enforcing an all-day ban when there is so much movement around campus. They have also discussed headphones or earbuds being a larger problem as they interfere with communication and distract students from their surroundings.
Rules may yet change for highschoolers, however. The legislation calls for a pilot project banning use at high schools. The pilot would take place in six yet unnamed counties — two small, two medium and two large counties. By the end of next year, those districts will report the effects of a total high school phone ban on academic achievement and discipline. The report is also expected to contain information on policy violations that include any illegal activity, bullying, harassment, threats, cheating, or taking photos or video of a student during a medical emergency or engaged in misconduct.
If a student breaks the rules regarding the use of cellphones or other devices, the phone or device will be taken until a parent comes to pick it up. On the second and subsequent times, the same will occur and a referral will be written and punishments assigned per the District Discipline Plan.
The same bill required that charter schools get a proportionate share of funding if additional sales tax is levied for school infrastructure. It also removes the requirement that a majority of teachers approve of converting a public school into a charter school, leaving it up to parents.
