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Concerns, questions raised ahead of VDOE's final cell phone guidance

By Anthony Sabella,

12 hours ago

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Three weeks from the day the majority of Hampton Roads public schools students returned to class, they're expected to learn the new rules they'll have to follow regarding cell phones.

On September 16, the Virginia Department of Education is scheduled to release its final guidance for school divisions in an effort to remove cell phones from student hands during the school day.

The policy will include minimum guidelines all districts will be expected to follow.

It comes weeks after state educators released a seven-page draft policy on taking phones out of class from "bell to bell," meaning from the moment school starts until school lets out and students return home.

Watch: VB superintendent discusses cell phone policy ahead of school year

VB school superintendent talks cell phone policy ahead of new school year

No phones between classes or during lunch either. The guidance says they must be turned off and put away in a locker, bag or other location not on the student's person.

The rules are for all grades, though there are some differences between elementary, middle and high school:

Elementary school students with cell phones would need to have them turned off and put away while on school grounds — inside or outside — at all times.
Whether middle school students could have phones before or after school is up to individual districts.
High school students would be allowed to have phones before and after school.

There is also guidance related to students with medical needs and for emergency situations. The policy also discusses district freedom to decide how to handle phones on school buses.
Watch: VDOE releases proposed rules for cell phone use in school

VDOE releases proposed rules for cell phone use in school

However, as of now , districts are free to follow their own rules until the state's deadline of Jan. 1, 2025. Ahead of the release of the final guidance, Hampton Roads districts are taking different approaches.

Last week, Portsmouth Public Schools announced the district adjusted its cell phone policy to align with VDOE's draft guidelines in an effort to avoid a switch mid-year. A final district policy would be voted on in late September.

For now, the superintendent of Virginia Beach City Public Schools says the district is keeping its existing policies in place.

“We’re not certain [how] the feedback the state is receiving right now might change what currently exists," Dr. Donald Robertson told News 3. “Whatever the guidelines are that come out from the state, we’re going to follow those guidelines.”

Watch: VDOE holds cellphone free education listening session in Virginia Beach

VDOE holds cellphone free education listening session in Virginia Beach

Heather Sipe is president of the Virginia Beach Education Association — the union representing teachers and other education professions in the district.

Before that, she was a German teacher in the district for more than 20 years and says cell phones have led to disruption in hers and other teachers' classes.

Existing district-led rules, she says, haven't solved the issue.

"It's definitely a problem in, I would say, at least 98% of the classrooms," Sipe told News 3 in a recent interview. “(Students) will have that phone propped up in the Chromebook and unless you’re walking around behind them, it’s really hard to even see.”

The state's cell phone guidance comes from Gov. Glenn Youngkin's July executive order calling for cell phone-free education in an effort to improve student mental health.

Watch: Youngkin seeks cell phone-free education in Virginia public school classes

Youngkin seeks cell phone-free education in Virginia public school classes

“Today’s Executive Order both establishes the clear goal to protect the health and safety of our students by limiting the amount of time they are exposed to addictive cell phones and social media and eliminates clear distractions in the classroom," Youngkin's release stated.

“The things they do to each other and the things they send to each other are a real problem," Robertson told News 3.

But Sipe says, thus far, rules have been hard for teachers to enforce and she has concerns about enforcement of the state's guidelines.

“How do we monitor and view all these things of who has their cell phone and who doesn’t have their cell phone?," she said. “The guidance does not really, at this point, offer support for teachers.”

The Virginia Department of Education says there will be communication following the release of the final guidelines.

“We’re putting together resources, toolkits, for administrators for teachers for parents to really start to put this guidance in place," said Todd Reid, Senior Communications Advisor for VDOE.

Watch: Cell phone policy, gifted education among topics at VB Schools retreat

Cell phone policy, gifted education among topics at VB Schools retreat

He tells News 3 there's also a hope that taking away the opportunities for students to check their phones in between classes will lessen the likelihood of conflict with teachers.

“If you don’t introduce phones between the classroom breaks and at lunch, then you don’t have to have the fight at the beginning of every class and at the end of every class.”

Robertson adds that VBCPS administration is working so enforcement isn't only falling on the shoulders of teachers.

“The teachers need to feel that, if they have an issue with a student, that they can contact the administrator and the administrator will help them take care of that," said Sipe. "It’s also going to be that family piece that, when I call home to talk to the parents or guardians about the issue we’re having in class, that there’s going to be support at home.”

Watch: What's the impact of kids having cell phones at school? Bill calls for study

What's the impact of kids having cell phones at school? Bill calls for study

Sipe, Robertson and Reid all agree that a successful rollout of the state's new guidance will depend on parents understanding the rules and talking to their children about it.

“Parents play a major, major role in this," said Reid.

Ahead of the release of the final guidance on cell phones on September 16, there is an opportunity for the public to give feedback on the Virginia Department of Education's website .

Feedback will be accepted through September 15.

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