Bourbon County High School bans cell phones in the classroom.
“For a variety of reasons, all of which serve to best prepare our students to enter the college/workforce/military world upon graduation, (Bourbon County High School) will be transitioning to no cell phones in the classroom” , district officials said in a Facebook post this week.
Parents are asked to talk to students about the change during the summer holidays.
“As superintendent, I support the school by being courageous in finding ways to improve the school,” Bourbon Superintendent Larry Joe Begley told the Herald-Leader. “From what I understand, this is not the result of one incident or new issues… cell phones have been a distraction in the classroom for years and this has been discussed before… talking about them all the time has been largely ineffective.”
“I have no problem trying something and seeing how it goes…especially if it involves safety, expectations, responsibility and student achievement at the same time,” Begley said.
Policy
According to the policy, cell phones and other personal devices such as gaming devices, AirPods, and headphones are not allowed in the classroom, with the exception of students who require accommodations for medical reasons.
Per policy, all students must place their cell phones and other personal devices in an assigned locker upon arrival to class.
Personal electronic devices may be used during transition times, in the cafeteria during lunch and before and after school.
Personal electronic devices may not be used to take photos, videos, or audio without the permission of the person being recorded. When using headphones in the common areas of the building, students are responsible for hearing all verbal communications and information and for responding appropriately to verbal requests from all staff.
For the first violation, teachers will remind students to place cell phones and other personal devices in their assigned lockers.
For the second violation, teachers will inform parents, and for the third violation, students will face discipline. Failure to put away the cell phone and other personal devices when requested will be considered ‘insubordination’ and will result in disciplinary action.
Kirsten Nicoulin, assistant principal at Bourbon County High School, said teachers have been asking for three years to help them solve cell phone problems.
“I think it speaks to the leadership to not only listen to teachers… but to listen to them,” she said.
Bill failed
No bill was passed in the 2024 General Assembly that would ban Kentucky students from using personal cell phones while in class, except during an emergency or if instructed to do so by a teacher “for instructional purposes.”
State Rep. Josh Bray, R-Mount Vernon, previously told the Herald-Leader that he filed House Bill 383 after hearing from teachers “having problems with (phones) in the classroom.”
Cell phone use policies within elementary schools are handled by decision-making councils at each school, Bray said. He said some schools don’t have policies against them.
Begley said the high school’s decision-making board approved the cell phone policy at Bourbon County High, and he expected the high school “to follow suit.”
In January, the National Center for Education Statistics reported that in 2021-2022, higher percentages of elementary schools (87 percent), middle schools (77 percent) and schools with other grades combined (70 percent) reported having policies banning non-academic educational activities . use of mobile phones at school, compared to secondary schools (43 percent).
