
A screen shot from the Jan. 23 Derby Board of Education meeting.
DERBY – Dan Foley, a retired teacher and current member of the city’s board of education, wants more restrictions placed on the use of cell phones in the high school.
“There is no need for students to bring a cell phone into your lunch room. I think it’s taking away from the experience of a student,” Foley said. “Why not have them communicate with each other without cell phones?”
Foley made his comments at the Jan. 23 meeting of the Derby Board of Education. The members of the board are currently reviewing making small changes to the district’s written policy on the use of electronic devices at Derby High School.
Cell phones are allowed at Derby High School, and can be used in common areas such as hallways and the cafeteria.
They’re also currently allowed in classrooms for educational purposes under the supervision of a teacher.
The changes to the high school’s written policy would require students to place their phones into cubbies when entering a classroom – instead of holding onto the turned off devices during instruction.
Another formal change – the students are expected to enter classrooms with their phones already off.
The tweaks have the support of administrators and teachers at the high school, where five classes are participating in a pilot program under the proposed rule changes. Click here to learn more.
Foley compared the proposed rule changes to “putting a Band Aid on a compound fracture.”
He said that in addition to being a barrier to face-to-face communication, cell phones are at the root of disciplinary problems.
“When we run into problems, many times it involves phones being used to instigate or film fights in the school,” he said.
Foley spoke in favor of having students place their phones in locked pouches for the duration of the school day. The pouches just went into use within New Haven schools, thanks to a $371,000 contract with a vendor providing the pouches. School board members have balked at the expense. The cubbies the high school administrators want to use cost about $30 each.
The Derby school board had the “first reading” of the revised cell phone rules Jan. 23. The board then voted 5 – 1 to accept the first read of the policy change.
The board could hold the “second reading” of the revision in February, and then vote to adopt the revised policy immediately thereafter.
Click here to read Derby school board meeting agendas and minutes.