Proposed Cell Phone Policy

The Grandview School District is working to revise our current Students and Telecommunication Devices Policy - Policy 3245. The district has had a cell phone policy since 2004, with the latest revision happening in 2011. The technological advances that have come over the past 11 years have given the district reason to take a deeper look at Policy 3245 to see what changes need to be made in order to best serve our staff, students and families.

As we've reviewed the policy, and in listening to the community, we want to reassure everyone that we are talking about a plan, not a ban. 

Grandview, like most districts in our state and country, deals with its fair share of problems stemming from inappropriate cell phone use. That is one of the reasons that we are looking at making some changes. The most significant proposed change to the current policy is that cell phone use will no longer be allowed during lunch or passing times. The current policy already states that cell phones can not be used during class time. The proposed changes don't state that a student can't have a cell phone at school, but they can not use that phone on school grounds except for limited circumstances and specially monitored areas.

We understand enforcement may be difficult. There is no doubt that most school-age students are extremely tech-savvy and used to being connected to a device during any downtime. However, we feel as a district, with all of the technology that's already available in school that students shouldn't need to turn to their cell phones.

Our paramount goal is student learning. In order for deep learning to occur we need to ensure all our children, staff, parents and community are safe and don’t have to worry about being pictured or videoed without consent or cyberbullied due to inappropriate use of cellular devices in the school setting. In recent times, we have had some major safety issues and other concerns that have arisen due to inappropriate cell phone use. We have heard from students and staff that cell phones are causing disruptions during class, that during tests students have been caught using their cell phones to text answers to other students or students are using the internet on their phones to look up answers. But beyond that, we've learned that fights are being staged so they can be recorded and posted online and students are taking unsolicited pictures of students and staff that are then being turned into memes and shared through ghost accounts on social media. 

We want to be sure that we are providing an environment that is conducive to learning, a place where staff and students feel safe and we feel that revising the current Students and Telecommunication Devices Policy will help make that happen.

Grandview School Board is currently set to do a first reading of revised Policy 3245 during the school board meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14.