ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. – School boards across the commonwealth are considering the same thing simultaneously...cell phones.
On Tuesday, Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed an executive order to draft plan for cell phone-free education in Virginia’s K-12 public schools.
Some school boards in Southwest Virginia were already having the conversations prior to the governor’s executive order.
Roanoke County’s school board already had a conversation planned for their meeting on Thursday. The school division has a pretty strict cell phone policy in place so far.
Currently, students at elementary schools and middle schools are restricted from being on their phones throughout the entire day. However, high school students can be on their phones in between periods and during lunch. Teachers will also allow cell phones if they’re for educational purposes.
The school board is weighing three different options in relation to the high school students:
- Keep the current policy in place
- Restrict cell phones during classrooms entirely. Teachers won’t even have the decision to allow cell phones for educational purposes.
- Cell phone restriction throughout the day.
“Well the bottom line is we’re looking at this from an educational standpoint. We know that there’s been some disruption in classes and so this is where we’re evolving to,” School Board member Tim Greenway said.
10 News got to speak with Gov. Youngkin on Thursday about why he feels the executive order was necessary.
“This is about healthier kids and better learning. What’s clear is that the massive increase and addiction of cell phone usage and social media interaction is hurting our kids,” Youngkin said.
Roanoke County Schools is sending out a survey to parents and teachers to get their feedback on the three options being considered. Superintendent Ken Nicely understands not everyone will be on board with restricting cell phones.
“We always want to work with people rather than against, not have an adversarial relationship. We already have a strong policy in place,” Nicely said. “If we have some further decisions, we’ll work with folks and let them know our expectations are. Most of our students meet our expectations and do a really nice job with that. Most parents are also supportive as well.”
The school board hopes to have a decision before the start of the school year.