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Students may bring mobile phones, but can't use them during school hours and on buses, the district rules.
By KATHRYN WEXLER, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 19, 2002
TAMPA -- In a reversal of school district policy, Hillsborough County students will be allowed to bring cell phones to campus.
But they will be permitted to use them only after the final bell, not during school hours or on school buses.
School Board members, informed Tuesday of the change to the student handbook, worried that students with cell phones would not be able to resist using them at the wrong times.
Some predicted cell phones would soon be ringing in classes and disrupting bus drivers. One board member envisioned students even calling each other -- forbidden or not.
"I don't think they're going to bring these things to school and not use them," said board member Glenn Barrington, a former school administrator. "We're creating a problem, in my view."
The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have left parents wanting immediate access to their children in an emergency. School districts across the country have responded by allowing cell phones on campus but insisting they be turned off during school hours.
And administrators have reasoned that students bring phones to school anyway, stashing them in lockers and book bags. What's more, schools have fewer pay phones now than in previous years.
"This is an acknowledgement that parents are purchasing cell phones to be in communication with their children during the day," said school district spokesman Mark Hart. Students can call parents after school or retrieve messages left on their cell phones. "Parents can reach a student during their work day and leave a message on their cell phones."
Currently, cell phones found on campus are confiscated and parents must retrieve them. Some board members urged administrators to impose more serious punishment if students are found chatting on phones during school hours.
"Two or three violations and I think the punishment needs to be more severe," said board member Candy Olson. But suspension, she said, would be too severe.
She suggested that after two or more violations, "we'll take the phone and won't give it back." Board member Joel Newsome agreed.
A committee of students, parents and teachers recommended the change.
Hernando County began allowing middle and high school students to bring phones to school, and students there are free to call during lunch.
Other counties, including Citrus, Pinellas and Pasco, are considering lifting the ban as long as phones are turned off and stowed during school hours.
Board member Carolyn Bicklemyer wondered how students could be kept from using the phones on buses.
"I'm curious as to how we're going to train our bus drivers," she said. "I can see this being tested immediately."
-- Kathryn Wexler can be reached at wexler@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3383.