BCPS is sticking with its cell phone policy

Although the second-largest school district in the nation has completely banned cell phones, Burke County Public Schools (BCPS) has no immediate plans to change its current cell phone policy implemented two years ago.

Last month, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) voted to ban cell phones on all campuses for the entire school day beginning with the spring semester of 2025. According to CNN, other states in support of the LAUSD’s ban have introduced similar legislation including Oklahoma, Kansas, Vermont, Ohio, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania.

BCPS adopted a policy in 2022 prohibiting the use of cell phones during instructional hours to deal with disruptions and discipline issues in the classroom.

“Direct feedback from teachers and staff prompted us to do it,” School Board Chairman Seth Hunt said.

BCPS’ current policy allows wireless devices on school campuses but prohibits their use during instructional hours without permission from teachers and administrators.

Teachers in BCPS use plastic organization bins to store phones, said Cheryl Shuffler, BCPS public relations officer. She added that teachers are clear about expectations and students typically comply with instructions to store devices in a designated spot in the classroom before instructions start.

Hunt said his experience during school visits is different.

“I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I’ve seen more violations of this policy than I can count,” Hunt said. “I’d like to believe that it’s working, but I’ve seen enough of it to know the teachers and administrators aren’t enforcing it.”

He said the policy is solid and spot on. The board would have gone further with stipulations of the policy if they believed the community would support it.

“Our message is very clear,” Hunt says regarding the policy. “We can’t be in all classrooms every day. It’s up to the teachers and administrators to make sure students are abiding by these policies we put in place. Teachers and staff are not following it because they don’t want to incur the wrath of parents and students.”

The same week LAUSD took action, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy spoke publicly in a New York Times opinion essay about the use of social media as a threat to children, demanding Congress put a label on social media apps the way it does for alcohol and cigarettes. In addition to warning labels, Murthy calls for phone use to be banned in schools.

Burke County Sheriff Banks Hinceman said social media was the source of several false reports at the local schools and represents a lot of man-hours by the Sheriff’s Office: one suspicious package (Sheriff’s Office, Morganton Department of Public Safety, and NCSBI Bomb Squad responded to the scene), two bomb threats, one communication of shooting a person, three communicating threats, shooting of mass violence, and 20 ‘See Something Say Something’ app tips.

Burke Superintendent Dr. Mike Swan said the 2022 cell phone policy is decreasing distractions during instructional time as it was intended to do.

The number of cell phone violations has decreased since the 2022 cell phone policy in Burke. There were 189 cell phone violations for the 2023-24 school year and 257 the previous year, the 2022-23 school year.

“At the beginning of each new school year, there is communication from the district level as well as the principal and teacher level to remind students and parents of the policy,” Shuffler said. “We will continue to evaluate it and revisit it as the need arises but we feel it is working well for our district as is at this time.”