by Miles Jung-Kilbreath
Reporter
Streetsboro -- The School Board May 8 unanimously agreed to ban high school students from using all electronic devices, including cell phones, MP3 players and palm pilots, during school hours starting in the 2008-09 school year.
Students can carry electronic devices, but they cannot be "seen or heard" from the first period bell in the morning to the last bell dismissing students at the end of the day.
The amendment to the high school handbook says that the devices cannot be used during lunch, intervention periods, assemblies or school meetings. Superintendent Tom Giovangnoli said the current policy, which will last through the end of the current school year, is that students can use the devices during "non-instructional times" and they could be visible during class.
"This is a no-win situation in keeping everyone happy," Giovangnoli said. "[Electronic devices] are a real thorn in the side for education."
The devices can be used by students in the school building before and after the school day starts, Giovangnoli said. The only electronic device students will be allowed to use in class are "pure" calculators that can only be used to assist with math, according to the approved handbook amendment. The amendment said that the only way a student could use a device in class was for a "definite educational purpose" approved by a teacher.
The amendment would also create an "across the board" approach to dealing with devices during class time, according to Giovangnoli. He said some teachers who have allowed their students to listen to MP3 players during class time will now have to strictly follow the "no electronic device" amendment.
School Board member Cynthia Pennock-Hanish, who is principal of Martin Luther King Jr. High School Health Careers wing in Cleveland, said that cell phones can draw attention away from instruction when they ring and agreed that the district needs to "do something."
"It's a problem where we even have parents that call their kids during class and send them text messages during the day," Giovangnoli said.
High school assistant principal Steve Hatch said he expects the district will keep its current disciplinary action when a student uses an electronic device in class. He said the device is taken from the student and the parent is contacted to retrieve the item, which normally corrects the problem.
Giovangnoli acknowledged that students do need cell phones after school since the high school and middle school no longer have pay phones.
"They took them out last year because they weren't making any money," middle school principal George Hammond said.
School Board President Kevin Grimm said that the amendment could also help students from having devices stolen at school, since they could no longer leave them out and forget to retrieve them after class.
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