Community meetings on cell phone policy scheduled across Virginia, including Roanoke County

The Virginia Department of Education has announced that parents and community members will soon have a chance to express their ideas on implementing cell phone-free education in the Commonwealth, including in the County of Roanoke.

This comes after Governor Glenn Youngkin issued Executive Order 33 on July 9 to bring about cell-phone-free education in an effort to promote the health and safety of Virginia’s K-12 students. Under the Executive Order, the Department of Education is required to establish guidelines by Aug. 15.

As we’ve reported, last week the Roanoke County School Board held a meeting to discuss the executive order, weighing the following options concerning high school students:

• Keep the current strict cell phone 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.

There will be a meeting held on July 31 from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. for Roanoke County Public Schools at Northside High School for parents to share their thoughts on the cell phone free education policy.

The Lynchburg School Board has already passed restrictions, voting unanimously in a meeting last week to approve a new cell policy for the upcoming school year.

Below is a list of other conversations being held throughout the Commonwealth:

• Manassas - July 18, 2 - 3:30 p.m. Osbourn High School
• Virginia Beach - July 22, 4:30 - 6 p.m. Tallwood High School
• Fredericksburg - July 30, 9 - 10:30 a.m. James Monroe High School
• Waynesboro - July 31, 10 - 11:30 a.m. Kate Collins Middle School
• Abingdon - August 1, 3 - 4:30 p.m. Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center
• Keysville - August 2, 1:30 - 3 p.m.  Southside Virginia Community College Keysville Campus Workforce Development Center
• Midlothian - August 6, 4-5:30 p.m. Chesterfield County Public Schools Career and Technical Center

Virginians who would like to register to join the conversation at these events, learn more about Executive Order 33, or share feedback about cell phone-free education, should visit the Cell Phone-Free Education in Virginia webpage.