Two new policies appeared on the agenda of the Callaway Board of Education’s Aug. 11 meeting for second read. One of them, the policy regarding acceptable attire at school, had the board split down the middle. The other proposed policy met with unanimous approval and no public input.

Policy 504.12 sets the guidelines for the use of cell phones and other electronic communication devices on campus during school hours. “We brought this to our staff and I think there is a little bit of apprehension as to how this might go. It’s going to be a lot on our teachers, and our administration is going to have to be more present in the lunchroom and in the pit,” said Superintendent JD Furrow as he began the explanation of the policy.

Furrow explained how the policy is written. “The way that I would interpret its enforcement is that the kids should not have cell phones from the first bell of the day until the last bell,” he said.

Board member Rhonda Pandorf asked for clarification on the wording, as the policy does contain references to “on school property”. Specifically, she questioned if students would be allowed to use their phones on the way to the gym for practice after school, for example, as they would still be on school property.

Furrow confirmed that the way the policy would be interpreted would be bell to bell, meaning if they are in the gym after school, they can be on their phones. “If they need to call their parents when the school day is over or before the first bell rings, they can be on their phone,” he said. “It really is from the start of the instructional day until the end of the instructional day, and any time they are in an instructional setting at an activity. So if they go to a conference and somebody is presenting, they can’t be on their phones. If they are at Husker Harvest Days and they are walking through all of the exhibits, they can have their phones because the teacher might need to get a hold of them.”

The superintendent also wanted to make sure everyone understands that the students will not be required to surrender their phones when they get to school. “We are not storing their phones or anything like that. In the case of an emergency they still have their phone on them. They can’t have it out or on or use it. They can’t use earbuds, or their watch, for any kind of communication,” Furrow explained.

Board member Liana Hrupek suggested the wording in the policy be clarified to specifically state usage is not permitted from first bell to last bell to avoid any confusion. “As it reads, as soon as they walk onto school property, they should not be using their phones,” she stated.

There was a great deal of discussion surrounding what constitutes “instructional” time, especially during activities. Forrow said the administration has talked at length about the issue as well, and has come up with what they feel is a good response.

“Is it something that you can achieve without using your cell phone? Can your Chromebook do the task? If you can, then no, you can’t use your cell phone. If any other device is going to make it harder or more tedious to do, and it's an instructional purpose, you can use it,” he explained. “If you are going to have an instructional project that uses a cell phone, it needs to be cleared through the office a week beforehand.”

Following the back-and-forth discussion, the board voted unanimously to approve the policy as amended during the meeting to include “during the educational day”.

The board also approved several fund transfers, which are done at the beginning of each school year. Those transfers include $25,000 from the general fund to the activity fund, $35,000 from the general fund to the Bobcat Fund, and $30,000 from the general fund to the food service fund.

The board will hold a budget hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 9, at 7:45 p.m. followed by the regular board meeting at 8 p.m.