New Cell Phone and Dress Code Rules Coming to Cherokee Schools

Changes are coming to rules about cell phone use and dress code in Cherokee County School District schools.

The Cherokee County Board of Education unanimously voted June 20 to approve changes to the school district’s dress code and cell phone policies in the code of conduct.

Changes were made after Superintendent Mary Elizabeth Davis heard from staff, students, parents and community partners in small group meetings and through a community survey, according to CCSD.

The new code of conduct goes into effect Aug. 1.

For the past school year, dress code guidelines were left to each school to develop, communicate and monitor, according to CCSD. The new standards aim to create consistency across the district.

The new dress code includes five standards for all schools:

♦ Students cannot wear clothing or jewelry that depicts or promotes vulgarity, profanity, hate speech, pornography, nudity, sex, alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, other controlled substances or gang identifiers or any other clothing or jewelry that creates an actual disruption.

♦ Students can wear “hoodies” or hooded shirts and sweatshirts, but they cannot wear the hood over their head while on campus. Other headwear that obscures a student’s face, neck and ears also is prohibited.

♦ Students can wear shorts and skirts of reasonable length and that are always visible.

♦ Student clothing must cover their underwear, private parts, buttocks, and midriff.

♦ Students can wear strapless garments, but they must be worn with a jacket or similar clothing over them.

The dress code rules apply to students while they are on school grounds, remote learning, participating in school extracurricular activities, or while on any transportation vehicle owned or used by the school district.

According to the new code of conduct, circumstances will determine the level of discipline. For the first offense, schools may notify parents or guardians, or have counseling with the student and/or parents with the opportunity to correct the violation. For subsequent offenses, disciplinary action is at the principal’s discretion.

The code allows for “reasonable exceptions” for religious practices and beliefs.

The new cell phone policy says that CCSD students will continue to be permitted to have a cell phone or personal device with them at school, but as a standard practice, will now be expected to keep their device in silent mode and stored out of sight. The policy also includes smart devices (such as watches and glasses) and earbuds.

The rules for these devices include:

♦ Cell phones, smart devices and earbuds must be stored out of sight and in silent mode as a standard practice.

♦ Devices may be used during instructional time only for academic reasons with direction from the teacher and authorization from the principal.

♦ In high school, cell phones/smart devices/earbuds may be used in hallways, transitions, the cafeteria and before and after school. In middle school, devices may only be used before and after school. In elementary school, devices are not permitted at school, including during non-instructional time, and are also not permitted on the bus.

♦ Cell phones/smart devices/earbuds shall not violate the Bring Your Learning Device (BYLD) guidelines.

♦ Cell phones/smart devices/earbuds shall not be used for photography or recording, unless at the direction of a teacher or administrator for academic purpose.

♦ Photographing, recording, or transmitting of profane, vulgar, inappropriate, or threatening material is prohibited.

♦ Photographing, recording, or transmitting of a fight, assault, sexual material, drug-related material, or gang-related material is prohibited.

If a parent needs to be in contact with his or her child during instructional hours for an urgent or unexpected matter, he or she can contact the front office and arrangements will be made for the student to call or text, according to the policy.

If any offense occurs on a school bus, disciplinary action also can include bus suspension.

School Board Chair Kyla Cromer spoke in favor of the new expectations, which were designed with input from all board members as well.

“I appreciate we locally can do this before the state tells us what we have to do,” she said of the cell phone policy. “We listened to the community, and this is what the community feedback said that we needed to do. It adds stress and anxiety to our students when they have phones with them and available to them all day. I think that this is going to be great for our students.”

She added that the new rules will require some adjustment, “buy-in from our entire community” and “consistent enforcement.”

“It’s going to be something that I think in the long run is really, really good for our students,” she said.

The 2024-25 Student Code of Conduct can be found at www.cherokeek12.net/handbook .