ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – At its July 11 school board meeting, the Abilene ISD board voted on an update to the student code of conduct — specifically, to change the school’s policy on cell phone use by students during school hours.
Under the old rules, students of all grades could have their phone on them, but it had to be silent and kept in their pocket during class hours. If a student is caught using their phone during class, it could be confiscated and the student can get it back at the end of the day.
A second offense required a parent to pick up the phone and pay a $15 recovery fee. These fees would then go towards a “student activity fund”.
Under the new policy, which passed unanimously with a 7-0 vote, AISD elementary and middle school students can no longer have their phones on them. Devices must be turned off and stored in their backpack or in a designated place in the school during teaching hours.
Any student caught with their phone at an unauthorized time will have the device confiscated. Parents must retrieve the phone and pay the $15 recovery fee, now required on a first offense.
“This is a move toward an attempt to draw a much harder line in the sand on device use,” said Abilene ISD Superintendent Dr. David Young.
This issue was brought to the attention of the board by a group of AISD middle school principals.
“They were very clear that the cellphone…was out of control and the usage was out of control, and we had to get that under control,” said Dr. Gustavo Villanueva, AISD’s assistant superintendent for leadership and people. student services.
Many Big Country teachers, like Brenda Dame, supported Dr. Villanueva’s assessment. Dame said she hoped something would be done to stop the daily distractions.
“We ask students to keep their phones on during school hours. But you hear the buzz, the students will peek and they’ll try to be sneaky looking at their phones,” Dame said. “But it’s a constant disturbance.”
Although Dame is not an AISD teacher, she said she was in favor of such actions if they can improve the situation.
“The phones are the problem,” insisted Dame. “It’s one of the biggest problems teachers face.”
On the other hand, some parents expressed concern about direct communication with their student during emergency situations.
Some teachers continued to argue that with advances in technology, phones do more than just help people communicate. They said the distractions were gaming, streaming and browsing during school hours.
“If they want to do something else and they have their phone, they can do something else,” Dame said.
This decision will be finalized at all Abilene ISD campuses for the upcoming 2022-2023 school year.