Ohio County Parents, School Administrators Discuss New Cellphone Policy Over Coffee

Ohio County's new policy restricting cellphone use by high school students - and its effect during the recent lockdown at Wheeling Park High School - were the topics for "coffee discussion" Monday morning.

Superintendent Kim Miller hosted a "Coffee With The Superintendent" event at Cafe 1925 at Wheeling Park's White Palace, where the public was invited to come ask questions and have discussion with school officials.

Miller was joined by Chris Daughterty, WPHS football coach/athletic director; board of education member Andy Garber, and four interested parents.

School safety and cellphone policy were the topics mainly addressed during Monday's discussion. Berkeley and Monongalia counties also have cell phone policies beginning this school year.

Ohio County enacted its own cellphone policy at the start of the school year that requires students at Wheeling Park High School to put their phones in a case during the school day. The state Board of Education now has initiated a similar effort, according to MIller.

As many as four WPHS students have been asked to participate in a panel discussion before the state board, she said.

"When we were putting our policy together, people (other county school systems) were asking, 'Can you email that?'" Miller said. "I think it's a huge compliment other people want to see what we are doing here in Ohio County Schools.

"The bigger picture is our kids are going to have a voice with the state superintendent and with major players."

She described the first day of school this year as being "fairly tricky" after two bullets were found on a school bus at WPHS. This resulted in a lockdown at the school while a search for a gun ensued.

The staff at the school that morning already had initiated the cell phone pocket policy in which the students were required to place their cell phones in a pocket organizer in the classroom.

At the time of the lockdown, some teachers chose to allow the students to have their phones momentarily to message their parents that they were unharmed, then they were quickly put back in the pocket holders.

The result was there wasn't conflicting information about the lockdown coming from the school, and the school district instead sent out its own messages through Schoology and social media on a regular basis, according to Miller.

Daugherty said from his personal experience, cellphone use among high school students is high. His daughter informed him last year she needed more data for her phone, and he saw she was using more than four hours of data during the school day.

He also recalled another instance when there was a lockdown and a photo was passed around on social media showing a gun found in a public bathroom that was supposedly at WPHS.

"It was not our bathroom," Daughterty explained. "But over 1,000 kids had that photo, and about 800 parents.

"Everybody thought there was a gun, and it was not real, and not true."

The photo spread like wildfire, he continued.

"I know how much better our school has been already," Daugherty said. "Students still have the ability to get on the phone - there is five minutes between classes. They can use it at lunch. So there is time for them to use it, but class time is class time.

"I think everyone wants their son or daughter educated, and if you take (cellphones) away there is more learning."

Miller explained the school district just wants to "eliminate outside distractions and teach self discipline to our students."

"It's OK. Put your cellphone here. You're going to get it back in 50 minutes or so and you can move on with your day," she said to students.

Karin Butyn, public relations director for Ohio County Schools, noted that in just three weeks, she has seen a change in engagement among students when they are in classrooms without their cellphones.

"They sit down and talk because there is nothing else to do," she said.

Daugherty added he and his wife Jenna - also a teacher of freshmen at WPHS - discussed the cellphone ban amid the lockdown on the first day of school.

"She said (the freshman students) talked to each other and got to know each other when they hadn't known each other before," he said. "Three hours later, it was like they had been together for days and months.

"I think that's huge, and something you probably can't measure that's going on a daily basis."

Parent Laura Kosol said her daughter texted her when the lockdown began, and then she began receiving texts from parents asking her questions.

She referred them to the school district's social media and Schoology messages being sent out by Butyn throughout that morning, and the school officials said that is just what she should have done.

Kosol added that from her experience it isn't the texting students are missing, but rather they like to listen to music when they are studying in class.

She noted she used to receive many texts throughout the day from her daughter. These have now been replaced by emails she is sending from her Chromebook during class.

Parent Erica Edge said her daughter until recently used a flip phone and is probably less addicted to the technology than most youths her age.

Still, she has noticed her daughter is retaining more information learned in her classes thus far while not having a cellphone with her. Edge expects her daughter's grades will improve.

Butyn encouraged more parents to ask questions of Ohio County Schools because communication with the public "can't end with a Facebook message."

"Don't talk into an abyss," she said. "Social media can't fix your problem, but we can."