Johnston County schools’ new policy restricts cellphone use for teachers and students during class

Johnston County Public Schools’ crackdown on cellphone usage in the classroom goes beyond what other districts are doing to include teachers in the ban.

The Johnston County Board of Education approved a new wireless communications devices policy last week. The policy prohibits both students and teachers from using their cellphones in class.

Board Vice Chair Terry Tippett shared his perspective on the policy.

“My doctor doesn’t talk on his phone when he’s with me,” Tippett said. “My dentist doesn’t talk on his phone when he’s with me. He’s doing his job with his patients.

“If I speak to an attorney, that attorney doesn’t get on the phone and check his phone when he’s talking to me. He’s doing his job as a professional. If we’re going to talk about teachers as professionals, then we have to understand, we don’t talk on our phone when we’re teaching class.”

Board members approved the policy in a 5-2 vote on June 10. Board members Kay Carroll and April Lee voted against the policy.

“This policy can be amended in a year if we find out, they’re not doing it, they’re just playing with us about being professional,” Carroll said. “But I’m willing to say, ‘I hear you’ and I’m willing to treat you and respect you as a professional and be able to control yourself and your phone use in the classroom to what is necessary, and your personal-private emergency stuff can wait.”

Students are not allowed to use their cellphones from the first bell of class through the last bell of the day. The district’s policy says students are required to power their phones off during the day, and they are supposed to “store their cell phones away from their person throughout the school day.”

Students are allowed to use a cellphone during emergencies, and high schoolers can use theirs during their lunch period. But for classwork, students are expected to use only district-provided devices.

Carroll said the exceptions to the policy stemmed from suggestions from student leaders.

Under the policy, staff may only use phones for emergency response purposes and when not responsible for supervising or instructing students.

“Teachers use their phones for a lot of different reasons in class,” Lee said. “Many of them [are] mandated by our district, but also as a convenience to communicate.”

Penalties for students include suspension

If a student’s device is confiscated by an administrator, it will only be returned to the student’s parent or guardian. The district’s policy lists penalties for violations:

First offense: Parental notification and the administrator will place the phone in a secure area in the main office for the parent or guardian to pick up.

Second offense: The student may receive up to a three-day suspension.

Third offense: The student may receive up to a 10-day suspension. The student may be recommended for long-term suspension only if the principal determines that aggravating circumstances warrant a more severe response and provides notice of those aggravating circumstances in the notice of suspension.

Several teachers unsuccessfully lobbied against the board to have the policy only applied to students.

“I want to listen to the teachers,” Carroll said. “It did read to me, like, ‘Well, wait a minute we’re just treating them [the teachers] like children.’”

What kinds of cellphone policies are there or are being proposed in other NC districts?

Two bills in the General Assembly call for school boards to adopt their own policies with baseline restrictions and consequences.

However, enforcement of the policies, such as how teachers would ensure cellphones are put away, could vary school-to-school, if the school board doesn't set enforcement rules.

The Wake County school board approved a policy that requires phones to be silenced and stowed away in a bag or locker but gives teachers options in how they want to enforce the policy. They can, but are not required to, confiscate phones.

Here are a few district approaches:

• The Durham County Board of Education’s code of conduct policies stipulate that cellphones and other personal electronic devices cannot be on during instructional time or during mandatory school assemblies or activities. School staff can, but are no required to, confiscate devices in violation, for parents or guardians to then pick up from the school.
• The Franklin County Board of Education only allows phones for personal reasons “when there is a reasonable need” or during supervised instruction.
• The Granville County Board of Education passed a stricter cellphone policy last year, not allowing elementary or middle school students to use phones and only allowing high school students to use them during passing periods or lunch. The policy allows for some exceptions.