The Pittsburgh Public Schools board discussed changing the district’s policy on electronic devices on Wednesday evening.
The board held a policy workshop online on Wednesday to discuss that potential policy change, as well as two others.
The impetus behind the proposed change was the stabbing at Carrick High School on Sept. 24.
“Students were bullying each other before, during and after school using social media,” said board member Jamie Piotrowski. “This is a response as well as an attempt to curb instances like that.”
The current board policy leaves the decision to the individual schools to allow or ban electronic devices. During the meeting, district superintendent Dr. Wayne Walters confirmed 44 of the 57 schools in the district ban cellphones.
But the new policy proposal would disallow the use of phones anywhere on school property. Any devices brought to school by students would be turned in at the beginning of the day and returned at the end of the day under the new proposal.
Board members say principals would get final say on any exceptions for students who may need to use electronic devices for academic purposes or emergencies.
Cellphones are banned in schools in 22 states across the country, and board member Sylvia Wilson says she’s seen positive results so far within the city of Pittsburgh.
“It created a more safe environment in the school during the school day,” she said. “The emphasis was on education and what was going on in the schools as opposed to some of the chaotic situations that I’ve seen personally.”
Dr. Walters also raised concerns about the difficulties that could arise in implementing and enforcing the new policy.
“Regarding specific data around suspensions or student outcomes regarding the use of cellphones, it’s hard to determine that, and to point that to the collection of cellphones from that,” said Walters.
One of the options currently being used both in Pittsburgh city schools and elsewhere is magnetic pouches made by Yondr, which store cellphones safely without access to using them. Board members say some schools have already purchased them, but have been quoted at different costs. The district would have to consider options for bulk purchases to keep expenditures consistent.
“To not have a system-wide way of securing that and managing it in a way that both protects the piece of equipment, but also our kids, I think it’s something that has to be looked at,” said board member Gene Walker.
In addition to any policy approval, the board also discussed setting a policy implementation date to establish when the policy would become uniform among all schools in the district.
