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Durham Public Schools is the latest district in the area to weigh revisions to its cellphone policy to align with a new state law.
School leaders Thursday will review changes that would require middle and high school students to power off their
phones instead of just silencing them. The new policy also has two options to either
prohibit smart glasses altogether, or they only be used as prescription glasses
with technology turned off.
Wake County Public Schools is also considering making changes to align with the law. The current policy says cellphones can be kept in silent mode.
Wake school leaders are also considering amending the policy to ensure students can still bring personal laptops to school, so long as they’re used for instructional purposes. That has been a point of confusion, with some believing the policy did not allow personal laptops at all.
The Wake school board plans to approve the changes by the end of the year.
Earlier this year, the school board approved a standalone cellphone policy that drastically restricted their use, after years of schools establishing their own rules and enforcing them differently.
WRAL News reported earlier this year that different approaches to enforcement yielded different successes.
This summer, state lawmakers passed House Bill 959, which requires school boards across the state to approve policies restricting the use of cellphones and other communication devices and to establish consequences for people who violate those policies.
The push came as states and schools across the country were responding to concerns about device addiction among young people and concerns that devices were disrupting learning.
Some research has suggested that some policies can effectively curb device use. One recent study found modest academic gains two years after schools implemented a strict policy, but saw more students suspended when policies were strictest.
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