Hamilton County School Board tables proposed cell phone ban

Stock photo of students using a cell phone (Photo by Katerina Holmes/Pexels)

A proposed cell phone ban in Hamilton County Schools is on hold.

Currently, Hamilton County Schools prohibits students from using their phones during classroom instruction time, with a few exceptions. The policy is similar to a proposed state law currently moving through the legislature. This is the second school year the policy has been in place, however, some teachers and administrators say phones continue to be a distraction in the classroom. On Thursday, school board members took up a proposed change to the policy, which would prohibit students from possessing a wireless device on campus during the regular school day. 

District 6 Board Member Ben Connor said as it stands, the current policy limits disruptions in the classroom, while also taking safety concerns into consideration.

 “We need to make sure that we’re doing right by the kids, and I think we’ve done that here by making sure that they’re not supposed to be touching their phones,” said Connor. “But the parents still have the safety to know if there’s a lockdown, my child has access to their telephone, has the ability to call me, has the ability to let me know.”

Concerns about safety and other scenarios such as sudden schedule changes and extracurricular activities were echoed by District 11 Representative Jill Black, who relayed a recent experience with her son, who is in sixth-grade.

“He was a brand-new bus rider, fell asleep on his bus and ended up halfway across town and did not have a phone. He had a phone very soon after that,” said Black. “I want my kid to be able to have access to their phone if there’s an emergency or if they need to change transportation arrangements or something like that.”

Some confusion arose about the wording of the proposed policy change, with members asking whether students would have to leave their phones in their cars, or if they would still be permitted to bring their phones into school, and then store them in their backpacks, lockers, or somewhere else.

“If they don’t have a car to store a phone in, the way that this policy is written, it indicates that they can’t have a phone at all on school property,” said Black.

Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Dr. Justin Robertson said he’s opposed to the revision.

“To be clear, the administration doesn’t support this policy change,” he said. “We worked 320 minutes combined to get to this place and I really think the board should take a lap on what’s a good policy.”

Several other members said they would support a change, but that transportation and safety concerns need to be addressed. There were also suggestions that the problem might be that some school administrators and teachers simply aren’t enforcing the original policy banning cell phone use in the classroom.

“It distresses me when policies are not implemented, and individual principals are allowed to circumvent our desired policy,” said District 8 Board Member Larry Grohn. “We need to hold the administrators at all of these schools accountable.”

District 2 Representative Ben Daugherty pointed to nearby Warren County, which has implemented a cell phone ban and has seen positive results. He supports a cell phone ban, but said the board needed to take a closer look at the proposed changes. He says when it comes to cell phones, the board should follow the data.

“There is no arguing when you look at data, there is a strong correlation to the negative impacts around cell phone usage,” said Daugherty.

Daugherty then made a motion to table the proposed policy change in order to address some of the confusion over the language and other concerns. The motion passed and the board will now take it up during a policy committee meeting on March 4th.