The Baltimore City school board voted to restrict student cellphone use during school at its meeting Tuesday.
“The proposed revisions aim to enhance our learning environments, mitigate distractions, and foster meaningful interactions among students and school staff,” City Schools wrote on its website about its proposed revisions to Board Policy JICJ, which governs device usage.
Effective next school year, devices must be off, away and secured, either in a locker, pouch or cabinet, for the entire school day, according to a presentation about the policy’s second reader. For pre-kindergarten through eighth grade students, by default, devices will go in a centrally accessible locked cabinet or room. For high schoolers, the default secure location will be in a student’s locker.
The policy was part of the school board’s consent agenda Tuesday night, which all members of the Baltimore City Public Schools Board of Commissioners present voted unanimously to approve.
Schools will no longer let high school students use their phones during lunch break or allow phone use as an incentive for students up to eighth grade, according to a presentation on the new policy.
In the event of an emergency, students will only be allowed to use devices when given permission by a school administrator or member of the school district’s incident response team.
Should parents need to speak to students during the day, they should call the school. The policy states “students will be given reasonable access to their devices and/or a school phone if they have a legitimate caregiving or other urgent personal need,” according to the presentation.
The policy doesn’t stop at students though. Staff members are also advised to avoid personal use of devices during class or when supervising students, including when off school property, the presentation said.
One of the benchmark school districts City Schools looked at was Howard County, where devices are required to be away and silenced the entire school day. The policy has been in effect since March 3.
Some schools in Baltimore City underwent a cellphone-free pilot program this school year. The district collected survey data from the program that informed its policy proposal.
“I just want to take a moment on the record to comment on how exciting this is for us as a district,” said Commissioner Emily Ames-Messinger after the policy was approved.
“This is something that just all educators everywhere are facing and I appreciate the work and the effort of school staff and schools who have participated willingly in pilots to see what this is.”
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