The Bibb County Board of Education discussed potential cellphone policy changes, updates on a prospective charter school for Macon students and school consolidation plans on Thursday evening.
Katika Lovett, deputy superintendent, presented a timeline of the Bibb County School District’s four-phase assessment consolidation plan for the 2025-2026 academic year. It’s a result of the district’s current budget constraints , with $22 million less in funds than last year.
The proposal intends to prioritize the district’s future financial efficiency and enhance student outcomes and opportunities, Lovett added.
“One of the things that is critically important as we go through this process is that we don’t change the experience for our students,” she said.
The initiative requires a project manager to oversee the consolidation analysis and determine the optimal school closure. The district also seeks community input through its newly formed Steering Committee for decision-making processes.
Longtime Macon resident Stanley Stewart was one of the two community members to address the board on Thursday with petitions to keep L.H. Williams Elementary open and consider the impact of school closures on the community.
“The national poverty rate is 12.5 percent. Macon, Georgia, has a poverty rate of 22 percent ,” Stewart said. “To close a school like L.H. Williams would be disastrous because those kids already have trouble getting to school sometimes.”
BCSD cellphone policy
Cell phone bans in school settings are on the rise nationwide as a way to crack down on classroom distractions.
Board members made a special request to review the school district’s current student cellphone policy out of concern for the latest trends and signed laws, President James Freeman said before opening the floor for discussion.
School systems are determining that student access to cellphones is detrimental to educational success and fosters misbehavior, said board member Darryl Morton, who supports revising the BCSD policy to restrict cellphone use during the school day.
“I think it’s simply too much of a temptation at this point —both to look at and also to … encourage activity that is not appropriate,” he said.
Morton also mentioned the district’s one-to-one technology initiative, which provides each student access to district-owned electronic devices for instructional purposes.
Board member Sundra Woodford agreed with Morton, citing research on how cellphones negatively impact students’ mental health. Macon-Bibb youth suffer from mental health problems more often than other teens around the state, according to recent data.
Board member Juawn Jackson said the board must be careful not to further disenfranchise marginalized populations, as it relates to digital equity in an era where technology is a big part of everyday life.
“As far as at the end of the school day, if we say (students) cannot have a phone on school premises at all, how will they be able to make contact with their parent or guardian?” he continued.
Bibb County students’ can have personally owned electronic devices, but they must be turned off and stored away, according to the district’s current policy . Exceptions are permitted for students with health conditions.
The board examined how it could address what Superintendent Sims described as a “cultural challenge on the student level.” Possible methods included collecting cellphones, considering stakeholder feedback and amplifying disciplinary actions for student conduct violations of unauthorized media.
No action was taken on the matter.
Collaboration or competition?
The Infinity Academy sought approval from the board to operate as a local charter school in the Bibb County School District.
But voting plans were halted after board members raised concerns about not having enough time to review its petition.
“This is an incredibly important decision,” Morton said. “We’re talking about a significant investment of money, resources ... I’d like to have the time to get the same consideration (the administration) had.”
Morton also said he wanted to be sure of the board’s legal position before voting, as there was confusion about whether the school’s petition submission in April went over the 90-day review deadline . Board members will reconvene on the matter at a future meeting.
If BCSD does not approve the charter school, it will be approved by the State Charter Schools Commission, Jackson said. He indicated he was leaning toward approving the school.
Sims said it is imperative for the board’s decision-making to consider one main point: “Do we want collaboration or do we want competition?” He favored collaboration, despite the district’s failed partnership attempts with charter schools in the past.
Sims said the charter school wouldn’t impact the district efforts to close schools nor will it bring additional funds to the district if accepted.
Freeman said the overall timing of the voting could be disastrous, given the district’s ongoing issues with budget constraints and school consolidations. But it may also help the school system retain its strongest and brightest students in Bibb County, he added.
The Infinity Academy’s curriculum features a STEAM-led model that would expose more BCSD students to the learning approach, Lovett said.
The school anticipates opening in downtown Macon in the fall of 2025.
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