Students in Stafford County middle and high schools may no longer be allowed to use cell phones in class for instructional purposes.
At the county’s June 9 school board meeting, the board discussed exhibits one and two of Regulation 2401, which would “eliminate the use of cell phones in the classroom for instructional purposes,” according to school board documentation.
This change would revise Stafford’s Student Code of Conduct, which currently allows for in-class cellphone use specifically for instructional purposes.
An elementary and secondary school committee has been meeting since December 2019 to aid in revisiting the Student Code of Conduct as well as related regulations.
“The big change with respect to cellular phones is to remove the idea that you can use your cellphone during class for any purpose,” said Falmouth District Supervisor Sarah Chase.
The Board is currently working on purchasing up to 9,000 additional Chromebooks for students which, costing $2.1 million.
These would be paid for using a combination of budgeted funds, Technology Grant Funds, and Board of Supervisors funding.
The Boards have not yet voted on the purchase, but if it is approved, the Chromebooks would be used in school and at home for instruction.
“The new thought is that most classrooms have some kind of Chromebook option, and we no longer are asking students to use their cellphones in class,” said Chase.
If cell phones are banned in classrooms for instructional purposes, high school students will only be allowed to use their cell phones before and after school, during lunch, and in areas specifically designated by administration. Stafford middle school students, on the other hand, would only be allowed to use their cell phones just before and after school.
This new rule would also remove liability from Stafford schools if a student’s personally owned device is lost, damaged, misused, or stolen at school, as well as allow the school division to inspect a student’s device.
“Additionally, SCPS, school administration, or the school’s administrative designee reserves the right to monitor, inspect, copy, and review a personally owned device or file when administration has a reasonable suspicion that a violation has occurred,” stated the revision to Regulation 2401, exhibit one.
The school board is expected to vote on the matters at hand during their upcoming meetings.
