At a regular meeting Tuesday night, Waynesboro School Board adopted a personal electronics device policy for all students.
According to Waynesboro High School Principal Bryan Stamm, personal electronic devices include any devices with the ability to connect to the Internet, including cell phones and watches.
“We spent a lot of time working on this,” Stamm said of the policy, which, per Virginia Department of Education guidelines, goes into effect January 1, 2025. Stamm spoke Tuesday night at a regular meeting of Waynesboro School Board.
The first step for Waynesboro Schools in creating a policy for cell phone use was online feedback from parents and families. Stamm said that 71 percent of families supported a policy while only 14 percent did not support a policy.
Feedback was also requested from high school staff.
“I’m very proud of the feedback our staff gave,” Stamm said. Teachers expressed concern for lack of student socialization and the impact on learning caused by the presence of cell phones in classrooms.
Sixty-eight teachers, or more than 70 percent of the school’s instructional staff, responded to feedback and 52.9 percent revealed they frequently see students on cell phones in the classroom while 17.6 percent revealed students are always on cell phones.
“Social media access through technology creates a much different environment for our kids,” Stamm said. Bullying online outside the classroom is brought into the classroom because of cell phones. Conflicts are not kept out of the classroom.
Per VDOE guidelines for grades 9 to 12, students may not have cell phones on their person in classrooms. Stamm said that each classroom at the high school has a wall chart to hold cell phones during classroom instruction.
From bell to bell, which is 8:29 a.m. to 3:20 p.m. at Waynesboro High, students will not have access to personal cell phones. However, cell phones will be permitted at lunch at the high school. Stamm noted that Augusta County Schools will follow the same policy as Waynesboro Schools, but will not permit cell phone access during lunch.
“One thing I was adamant about as we went into this is I did not want cell phones to lead to suspensions right off the bat,” Stamm said Tuesday night.
The school system created guidelines for offenses. On the first offense, a student’s phone may be confiscated. On second offense, the parent must come retrieve the cell phone and the student may receive ISA. On a third offense, the device will be placed in an administrative office and a behavior contract will be written for the student.
Stamm said that students with disabilities will receive individual cell phone policies between school administration and their families to limit cell phone access. In the event of a family emergency, families are encouraged to contact Waynesboro High School‘s front office.
Waynesboro School Board Chair Debra Freeman asked how teachers and staff will handle situations in which students do not handle separation from cell phones well.
“I’m not sure what to anticipate with that, to be honest with you,” Stamm said. However, other school systems have reported that most students are on board for cell-phone free education in Virginia. Waynesboro Schools will provide resources as necessary to enable students to transition to an education system without cell phones.
Waynesboro Schools Assistant Superintendent Dr. Ryan Barber gave Stamm and his team at the high school credit for leading the way for the school system to create a policy for cell phone-free education. Feedback was gathered from the school system’s elementary schools and Kate Collins Middle School where a similar policy will be in place for students.
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Waynesboro to participate in chat on cell-phone free education
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Virginia DOE releases draft cell phone-free education guidance
‘Bell-to-bell’: Virginia DOE releases final draft of Cell Phone-Free Education guidance
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Rebecca Barnabi
