Cell phone policy waiver continued for Berkeley Springs High School

The Morgan County School Board approved a continued waiver of the county cell phone policy for Berkeley Springs High School.

Their action came at an early morning special personnel meeting on August 20 before the opening of school. The approval was for the 2010-2011 school year, contingent upon students’ continued compliance to the waiver.

The school board considered Assistant Principal Lance Fox’s request for a continuance of the cell phone policy waiver for the high school at their August 17 meeting.

The waiver permits cell phone use before and after school, between classes, but not in class. Parents have been very supportive and students seem appreciative of the policy waiver, Fox said.

No other Morgan County schools had requested a waiver. Paw Paw has no cell service so it’s not an issue for the high school there, said board member Eric Kidwell.

Before the waiver was approved they had more than 80 cell phone infractions in two months at the high school, Fox said. They had 40 violations for the rest of the year after the waiver was in place.
Two students lost their right to have a cell phone at school by repeat violations of the waiver, he said. They’ve had no major incidents with cell phones, but have had other issues with Facebook regarding harassment and improper photos.

The school board asked that Fox come back to report on how the continued waiver was going.

Board member David Ambrose said he also wanted to hear how teachers are using cell phones in the classroom when the high school did its Local School Improvement Council (LSIC) presentation.