Some Williamsburg-James City County students will have to be more aware of where they’re keeping their phone in school next year.
While a post in a community Facebook page described this as a policy change, Eileen Cox, spokeswoman for WJCC, said the change is actually a clarification in the student code of conduct that was approved at the June 18 school board meeting.
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The clarification labels specifically when and where students in kindergarten through eighth grade should be putting their cellphones throughout the school day.
Now, the code states:
“All portable communication and electronic devices at all times must be turned off and stowed away in a location as identified by the school such as, but not limited to, lockers and backpacks, unless utilized for instructional purposes or otherwise approved by school personnel.”
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Previous to that, it did not use the phrase “at all times” and it did not specify location, such as lockers and backpacks, where students can keep their cellphones.
The clarification comes as more and more students are using their cellphones in class, and Pam Neff, administrator of the Facebook page WJCC Public School Parents & Community, described cellphones in a post as being “distraction, interruption, and a method of inappropriate exchange of information.”
“It’s just a matter of students in the past [being] told they needed to turn off their cellphones and store them away and some kids were still continuing to use them,” Cox said. “So in those instances school has the authority to ask them to put it away. It’s about trying to be more transparent and clear with families.”
Cox added each family gets a copy and signs the code of conduct book so providing the clarification will allow them to better understand this particular code.
For those who do not comply, infractions for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade fall under a level one or two. This can mean a parent notification, a warning, lunch detention and other forms of repercussions.
Cox also added that at the middle school level, students are issued laptops so smartphones are not used as widely for instruction during the day.
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For more information, visit the district’s student code of conduct online.
