The Knox County Board of Education has revised its Cell Phone Policy for the 2018-19 school year. The policy now states that students must power off their cell phones during school hours and the phones must be stored out of sight. The policy also states that no student is allowed to take pictures or video of another student during the school day.
Complete Policy:
All devices shall be powered off and kept out of sight during school hours, including periods of transportation provided by the school system but excluding extracurricular activities. Any such item observed by school personnel, not being used for instructional purposes, shall be confiscated from the student in possession. Students should not use their device with camera to take photographs or video of other students during the school day or while being transported to/from school to protect the privacy right requests of families.
On the first occurrence, students (or parent/guardian as determined by school policy and the principal) may pick up the item from the principal and sign for it no sooner than the next school day. On the second occurrence, the item will be retained by the school for a 30-day period and must be picked up by a parent/guardian. On the third occurrence, the item will be retained by the school for the remainder of the school year and the parent will be called for conference. The school principal may determine the length that the item will be retained. Repeated offenses will result in Level 1-4 disciplinary responses.
