NewsDalhart ISD announces new cell phone policyDalhart ISD announces new cell phone policyBY BILL KELLY During their last session earlier this year, the Texas legislature passed a bill that bans the use of cell phones by students at school during the regular school day, with Governor Greg Abbott signing the bill in June. That bill goes into effect with the 2025-2026 school year, and Dalhart ISD announced its new official policy last week. Texas House Bill 1481 mandates that Texas public schools develop and implement policies to prohibit student use of personal communication devices during the school day on school property. Specifically, it amends Subchapter A, Chapter 38 of the education code by adding Section 38.0232. The first part (Subsection A) defines “personal wireless communication device” to include cellular telephones, text messaging devices, laptop computers, and tablet computers, and it does create an exception for devices provided by the school, which means that schools can continue to provide Chromebooks or laptops to students for use in the classroom. The second part (Subsection B) states that “Notwithstanding Section 38.0231 [which previously governed the use of personal communication devices], the board of trustees of a school district and the governing body of an open-enrollment charter school shall adopt policies prohibiting students from using personal wireless communication devices during instructional time. The third part (Subsection C) states that “Policies adopted under Subsection (a) must require that classrooms designate a secure, out-of-sight area for the storage of personal wireless communication devices during instructional time.” In order to comply with this new law, Dalhart ISD has enacted the following cell phone policy for students: “1. The use of cell phones, smartwatches, tablets, radio devices, paging devices, or any other electronic device capable of telecommunication or digital communication are prohibited in school. Devices must be left at home or stored in secure storage on campus. Student Options: • A Student can leave devices at home. OR • A Student can check devices in a designated area before the first bell rings 10 minutes before the first bell rings. Devices will be stored in a designated area till the end of the school day or until student leaves campus for the day (excluding lunch). If you choose to bring your devices on campus with you, you will be required to do the following: • Your devices must be powered off. • Stored Cell Phones may NOT be removed from secure storage during the lunch period whether the student remains on campus or leaves campus for lunch. 2. TARDIES WILL NOT BE EXCUSED FOR TURNING IN DEVICES. You have the choice of leaving your device at home or bringing it to school with you. If you choose to bring your phone on campus with you, it is your responsibility to be on campus early enough to turn your device in before the school day starts. Turning your device in will not be an excuse to be tardy. 3. No personal earbuds, earphones, or headphones are allowed to be used by students. If a classroom activity requires headphones, the school will provide them. 4. THERE WILL BE NO WARNINGS!!! Students will be considered warned when the student/parent signs the Cell Phone Policy at registration. 5. Dalhart ISD will not be responsible for any lost or damaged devices, again it is your choice to bring the devices with you, or you can choose to leave them at home. Consequences for Violating the Cell Phone Policy: First Offense: All confiscated devices (phones, smartwatches, headphones, earbuds, tablets, etc.) may be picked up after the final school bell for the day. Second Offense: All confiscated devices (phones, smartwatches, headphones, earbuds, tablets, etc.) may be picked up on the 10th day after the device is confiscated Third and Subsequent Offenses: All confiscated devices (phones, smartwatches, headphones, earbuds, tablets, etc.) may be picked up on the 30th day after the device is confiscated. Dalhart ISD Superintendent Jeff Byrd shared the following message with parents along with the official policy: “Please understand that each campus will have different procedures that will be age and grade-level appropriate. However, I wanted to share this with you as soon as we possibly could. This is now required by law, and we have chosen as a district not to ban phones from our district. So as extreme as these choices may seem, this was the least restrictive option that we have while following the law. Just as every business in our community, it has been a challenge to be fully staffed. There is no way that we can designate staff members to take phones up and pass them back out to secure them during the instructional day. That is why we are taking them up before school starts and passing them back out at the end of the instructional day.” For the full story SUBSCRIBE to the online edition of The Dalhart Texan, call (806) 244-4511 to setup a subscription to our physical paper or pick a copy up at one of our many convenient news rack locations. You can also stop by and purchase a paper or subscription in person at our news office located at 410 Denrock Ave. |
