The board of trustees approved the new policy at a special meeting Aug. 6.
The board’s approval comes after the passage of House Bill 1481 in the 89th Texas Legislature, which requires every school district across the state to adopt a policy to prohibit student cellphone use in schools.
What you need to know
The district’s previous cellphone policy already restricted device use. However, it allowed teachers to permit students to use their phones for instructional purposes. This updated policy will strictly prohibit cellphone use, according to district documents.
Exceptions to this new policy include:
- The device is required under an Individualized Education Program, 504 plan or a similar program or plan.
- The device is needed due to a directive from a licensed physician.
- The device is necessary to comply with a legal health or safety requirement or district or campus safety protocols.
Also of note
While students will be prohibited from using personal cellphones, smartwatches, earbuds and tablets, they are still allowed to use personal laptops during the school day, Superintendent Carol Nelson said at the meeting.
The district does not have 1:1 devices, which are district-issued laptops for every student, as neighboring districts do, such as Pearland ISD.
Nelson said she and district administrators discussed 1:1 devices as HB 1481 was passed and found the main challenges were cost and maintenance. However, Nelson said district officials are continuing to “explore” 1:1 devices to potentially roll it out in the future.
“It's not something we could just roll out right now, but it is on the radar, and we have team discussions about it,” Nelson said at the meeting. “Should we decide as a team to move forward with that, then, of course, we would bring a budget amendment and things of that nature and a plan, but it's not something we could just turn over right away.”
