HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — A Henrico County Public Schools (HCPS) principal reminds parents to ensure their children bring only one cell phone to school.
J.R. Tucker High School’s principal, Arthur G. Raymond III, emailed parents about some students attempting to evade the county’s cell phone policy in August.
“We have found that some students are bringing multiple phones to school so that they can put one in the phone box and keep one. Please check to see if your child has more than one phone,” the email read.
Raymond wrote that students seen with phones during instructional time in the hallway will have their phones taken.
Dr. Thomas Ferrell oversees nine schools as director of high school education for HCPS.
“Simply, teenagers push the envelope. Whenever schools are a little tighter with policies or practices — teenagers want to push a little bit just to see how far they can go,” Dr. Ferrell said in an interview with CBS 6.
HCPS’ current policy prohibits cell phone use during instructional time and inside the classroom. Students must now put their phones in a book bag, pouch, or lockbox before class begins.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R - Virginia) issued an executive order earlier this year directing the Virginia Department of Education to draft new policies that would virtually eliminate cell phone use by students inside school buildings. School districts must adopt similar policies by January.
Dr. Farrell said, with some exceptions, that most classrooms are successful with the county's cell phone policies.
“We're seeing that students are more focused in classes. Teachers aren't dealing with as many cell phone distractions. To be quite honest, students don't really miss having a cell phone on a desk or in their hands during instructional time. It's been very positive,” he explained.
He encouraged parents and families to listen to Principal Raymond’s advice.
“Partner with us. We have the best intentions for our students, and that is simply to ensure that they're able to learn in a cell phone free classroom and free of distractions,” Dr. Ferrell stressed. “So all we're asking is for families to partner with us and help us to continue to reinforce the message of our students come to school to learn and to be engaged in classroom instruction.”
What do you think about your child's school cell phone policies? How is it going so far? Share your voice with the CBS 6 Newsroom.
