HCS Considering Uniform Cell Phone Policy
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – The Hamilton County School Board is considering adopting a uniform cell phone policy.
Right now in Hamilton County, every school gets to decide their own cell phone policies.
But according to board members, this is causing chaos.
Rhonda Thurman, the school board member for District 1 said, “Kids make drug deals during on their cell phones, they’re setting up meetings after school. They’re getting fights together, staging fights so somebody can film a fight and post it online.”
Currently, Hamilton County is only one of a handful of school board districts in Tennessee who currently do not have a uniform cell phone policy.
Other school districts in our area have wide-ranging policies, such as Bradley County allowing teachers to direct students to use them for instructional purposes, and Sequatchie County outright banning them during the school day.
The Hamilton County cell phone policy is still in its early stages, and details are being hammered out.
The rough draft of the policy restricts any photos or videos to be taken on campus, especially in the case of any fight.
It also prohibits any recordings done off school property that “cause harm towards students and/or a significant disruption in school.”
It splits the rest of the phone policy between elementary and grades six and up.
The policy would allow middle and high school students to possess devices, but only be used at the direction of a teacher.
It states that student issued Chromebooks should be prioritized if technology is needed.
For elementary students, use of a cell phone would be limited to only before or after school, and any phones would need to be locked away in a backpack during the school day.
There would be exceptions made for students with special needs, such as hearing and translation services.
Thurman says she wants to see disruptions limited within classrooms.
She said, “I just think there needs to be no cell phones out during class at all. I know a lot of teachers have told me they’ve tried to take their student’s cell phones and students just refuse to hand them over. I think if there is a refusal to hand over a cell phone, the penalty should even be more harsh.”
Thurman says there is some work to be done to the policy, but overall believes the Board is trending towards adoption, and that’s it is an urgent decision even if it upsets some parents.
Thurman continued, “I can understand some parental concerns, but we also have to have some learning going on in these classrooms and right now it’s so disruptive. Kids getting calls in the middle of class, answering messages in the middle of class. Then when the teachers take the cell phones, they don’t want to give them up. Then when the teachers do get them, the parents show up and demand they give them back because they paid for the phone, you know, there’s a lot of things to consider.”
We reached out to other school board members but they were unavailable or didn’t return our call.
The School Board meets on Thursday night, but it is unclear if they will vote on a finalized resolution then.
