Ohio County Schools Seeking Clarity From West Virginia Education Officials on Cellphone Policy
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WHEELING -- Students at Wheeling Park High School presently aren't permitted to use cellphones during class time, but they can take out their devices between classes and during lunch.
That policy could change as the school district has received new directives from the West Virginia Department of Education prohibiting cellphone use throughout the "instructional day."
Ohio County Schools officials now are seeking the state's definition of "instructional day," and wanting to clarify if students can use cellphones at lunch time.
Prior to the start of the last school year, administrators sat down with staff and parents to create a cellphone policy for the district that restricted use of cell phones, but still gave students access to their devices.
Cellphones are placed in pouches that hang in each classroom at the start of each class period, then retrieved at the end of the period and carried to the next class.
That policy overall was accepted by students and faculty, and resulted in fewer discipline issues and higher test scores, according to both Ohio County Schools Superintendent Kim Miller and Assistant Superintendent Rick Jones.
Jones updated board of education members on the state's new cellphone policy this week.
"Essentially it says from first bell to last bell, you're not allowed to have phones," he explained.
Jones said he has spoken with the school district's attorney, and he learned that in school districts around the state lunch time "is not considered to be an academic instructional setting."
"So, we are going to suggest that students be allowed to use their phones during lunch," he continued.
A section of the policy also directs the school district to provide a way for students -- if they need to contact their parents -- to be able to access their phones to do so.
"(The attorney) doesn't know what that means, but he doesn't think we can get around using the phone during transitional time between classes," Jones said. "So we've had a few ideas to mark off a couple of minutes a few times a day to permit kids to communicate with their parents."
He noted parents also can reach students if they need to through Schoology on their Chromebooks at any time, but many choose not to use the technology.
"It's very frustrating," Jones added. "We did everything right. Our policy is great. They had great success with it at Wheeling Park. The kids, surprisingly, had no issues with it."
Board members received the policy this week to examine. It is set to come before them for a vote at their next board meeting, set for 6 p.m. Aug. 25 at the board office, 2203 National Road, Elm Grove.
Board President David Croft asked that before the next meeting school officials find out the state's technical definition of "instructional time" versus "instructional day."
"I could argue that the way it (the state's policy) is written, we wouldn't have to change anything," board member Molly Aderholt added.
Miller noted that when Ohio County Schools crafted its policy last year, student, parent and community groups were consulted.
"We wanted a solid policy," she said. "We wanted to make sure cell phone use was non-punitive. We didn't want to punish kids and take their phones away. Cell phones have become part of people's lives. We knew that.
"But we wanted to be respectful to our teachers. We wanted them to self-regulate, be self-disciplined, and put their cell phone away during instructional periods. Our definition of instructional period is when class begins to when class ends."
The Ohio County Schools policy was well-received, she continued.
"Our discipline list went down. Our D's and E's list decreased. So we know that what we did was beneficial and was working." Miller said.