CHESHIRE, Conn. — The Cheshire Board of Education is looking for feedback on its current electronic device policy.
The current policy, seen below, was written in 2001 and is in in need of an update, according to Dr. Jeff Solan, superintendent of Cheshire schools.
“A person who discovers a student carrying a pager, beeper or cellular telephone in a visible location or using such a device should report the violation to a school administrator who should confiscate the device and contact the parent/guardian.”
Since cell phones are used more than they were in 2001, each grade level has different practices for phones in school.
- For students in kindergarten through sixth grade, phones and any kinds of electronic devices are not permitted.
- For middle school students, phones and any kind of electronic device is not allowed during the school day.
- For high schoolers, cell phones are allowed but only during lunch and if needed in their study halls.
Due to the practice and policy being different, Solan wants to adjust the policy.
“It should reflect the current practice or maybe it should reflect something different and we’re getting stake holder feedback to inform that process,” he said.
Parents weighed in also.
“I think it’s a responsibility of the parent to really teach the children you know what’s appropriate, what’s appropriate cellphone usage, when it’s appropriate to use it and how to use it,” Jessica Feustel said. “I feel like the school is reinforcing something that parents should be instilling in the children”.
A survey sent out Thursday asked parents whether they agree with the practice for each grade level and if not, what would they change.
“What we’re looking to do is gather feedback about how is the existing practice working for people and do we need to adjust that as we form a new policy,” Solan said.
Solan wants to make it clear that the Board of Education doesn’t want to get rid of phones but does realize they can distract students in class.
“They create a lot of discipline issues let alone take away focus from what’s going on in the room,” he said. “So yeah, we have had a lot of feedback on that, but this will also solicit feedback from our staff, about what’s been their experience this year when we really cracked down and enforced this practice in our buildings and maybe that needs to become more policy.”
Kaye Paddyfote is a multimedia journalist for FOX61 News. She can be reached at kpaddyfote@fox61.com. Follow her on X, Facebook and Instagram.
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