CHARLESTON, W.Va (WCHS) — School is starting back, but one major change has been made. No cell phones will be allowed in West Virginia classrooms starting this school year.
“What I want parents to understand is we can’t change the law. We will have to enforce it. Everyone uses a cell phone nonstop. Our kids are used to that. So it is going to be a change of practice for everyone involved,” Kanawha County Schools Superintendent, Paula Potter said.
In April, Governor Patrick Morrisey signed House Bill 2003 into law which prohibits cell phones in schools and gives the counties the power to decide how they’re going to do it.
Kanawha County has worked since this bill became law, to create a policy that works best for everyone in the school system.
“We wanted to make sure that we heard from students, parents, and teachers. I think we did get a wide variety of input from all of those groups to help us develop a policy that we meet the letter of the law, but also took into account some of their considerations,” Potter said.
Students will put their backpacks, along with their phones in their lockers during the school day, unless a student has documented medical needs where it’s necessary for a cell phone to monitor it.
“My youngest son has never had access to his phone during the instructional day. He put it in the pouch at the beginning of the day, got it out at the end of the day. I will say from firsthand experience as a parent that it’s been good for him. I think it’s been good for all of them,” Kanawha County Board of Education President, Ric Cavender said.
Board members said this is a learning curve for everyone involved but they’re hopeful that by eliminating phones, they’ll see better performance and focus.
“We all feel really comfortable with how this has ended up. I would say that this will probably be much better for the instructional day. It’s going to create a whole lot less distraction for our students throughout the day, keep them focused, and I think we’ll probably see some really good benefits from it,” Cavender said.
Anytime an instructor sees a student with a cellphone, it will be noted in their systems to keep track and to discipline accordingly. Superintendent Potter said if issues persist, they may have to implement stricter rules.
