Local school district aims to curb cellphone use in class

AUSTINTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – The Austintown School District will aim at curbing cellphone use this year after state leaders began pushing a policy designed to minimize student use of cell phones during school.

The policy recommends prohibiting cellphone use and similar electronic devices during school hours.

Austintown Schools have always had a cellphone policy and they’ve been constantly tweaking it as the use has grown over the years.

Austintown Fitch High School Principal Salvatore Maiorana says while cell phones can be helpful, they are often a distraction for students.

“It is such a powerful tool, but our students don’t always know how to use it adequately. The biggest thing is it’s a distraction. A lot of the time we think you can look up information for classes which is true but a large group of students use it to be kind of distracted,” Maiorana said.

School officials say they don’t expect the plan to raise too much concern — particularly for high school students coming from the middle school where cellphones aren’t allowed in the classroom and must be stored in your locker.

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