Photo by Joselyn KingOhio County Schools Superintendent Kim Miller holds up a cellphone bag manufactured by the YONDR company. The school district plans to purchase 30 of the bags in which to place the phones of those not adhering to the new "phone-free classroom" policy at Wheeling Park High School.
WHEELING – Ohio County Schools is seeking to establish “phone-free classrooms” at Wheeling Park High School by establishing a policy that would permit students to keep their cellphones with them throughout the day, but to also prohibit their use during class time.
Those running afoul of the policy would be sentenced to “cellphone jail,” explained WPHS Principal Meredith Dailer. This would entail placing the student’s phone in a magnetized bag until the end of the day, when they would be able to go an established location and retrieve their phone.
A group of teachers, parents and staff meeting in the Innovative Learning Center at WPHS Thursday were presented with a printed copy of the proposed cellphone policy. They were told to read it, mark it for suggestions and bring it with them when they return for a meeting in July.
The meeting ended with Superintendent Kim Miller agreeing to order 30 of the magnetized phone bags from the YONDR company, and Dailer announcing she also would order special cellphone calculator cases that cover a cellphone permitting its use only for math computations.
Dailer explained the school presently allows each teacher to decide the cellphone policy for their individual classroom.
“We have tiered discipline in place to manage students who are repeat offenders,” she said. “But for the most part, from the teachers who are cellphone-free and super consistent with it, the feedback I’ve received is not an issue .
“However, the teachers who want to be cellphone-free and still struggle with it, say a consistent school-wide policy dealing with it would be valuable.”
The cellphone policy being considered was crafted by Ohio County Board of Education member David Croft, who is also an attorney. In addition to smartphones, the proposed policy would prohibit the use of smart watches, earbuds, air pods and headphones during class time.
It would allow students to use their personal cellphones before school, during class changes and lunch. All other times would be considered instructional time during which all cellphone use is prohibited.
Students would place their cellphone in a numbered cubby, then retrieve it at the end of class.
The use of cellphones could be permitted for instructional purposes with permission of the teacher. Also, in the event of an emergency, students may request permission from the teacher to use their cellphone.
A student who is a first-time violator of the policy would have their cellphone confiscated by the teacher and returned at the end of the school day. A warning will be issued. The second time a student uses their cellphone in class, it will be confiscated and returned only to a parent or guardian. The student will receive detention.
Under a third offense, the student will be referred to administration for further disciplinary action. Students who refuse to turn over a cellphone also will be subject to consequences for insubordination.
If a student who has their cellphone confiscated brings in a second cellphone during the time of the confiscation, this too will be considered insubordination, according to the policy.
Students will be responsible for ensuring their cellphones are silenced and stored properly during class time in the designated area.
Most of those present – all adults – had their own cellphones out and visibly present at Thursday’s meeting. There was agreement that one of the greatest challenges of the policy will be for the adults at the school to be cognizant of their own cellphone use in front of the students.
Dailer noted that Brooke County does not permit cellphone use in the classroom and the John Marshall High School’s policy is identical to the current one in Ohio County that permits teachers to determine their policy. Parkersburg High School uses cellphone caddies, and Oak Hill High School in Fayette County prohibits them only during teacher instruction, she reported.
Miller said she has had conversations with State Superintendent Michele Blatt about cellphone use by students, and a statewide policy “is coming.”
“I think we want to be in charge of what we do before someone else tells you what to do,” she continued. “We want to make sure our teachers have the respect they deserve,
“We also want to teach our students a little self-discipline, that they can put their phones away for 50 minutes and the world will not come to an end,” Miller added.
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