Dorchester School District Two will be updating its policy regarding electronic devices

DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCSC) -The Dorchester School District Two Policy Committee will meet Monday evening to discuss updating the current policy regarding the use of personal electronic devices on school campuses.

This year, the state has cracked down on the use of personal electronic devices in South Carolina public schools. Last month, the South Carolina Board of Education approved a model policy from the South Carolina Department of Education that prohibits the use of personal electronic devices during the school day.

It prohibits students from accessing devices including cell phones, smartwatches, tablets, gaming devices, as well as device accessories such as wired or wireless accessories that can connect to a device, unless the use is approved by the district’s superintendent.

Exceptions would be allowed for students with IEPs and medical plans if the device is needed for medical or educational purposes, as well as for students serving as volunteer firefighters or in other emergency organizations, with approval of the district’s superintendent.

The model policy says students should store their devices in a locker, backpack or wherever the district decides they should be stored.

All school districts were required to implement a policy this fall if they did not already have one, with full statewide implementation starting in January 2025.

Dorchester School District Two adopted its policy before the state approved the model policy in July. The policy allowed students to possess personal electronic devices as long as they were not visible, used or activated and kept out of reach throughout the school day.

For high school students, permitted times of use on school-sponsored transportation were before the morning bell to begin the class day, after the dismissal bell at the end of the class day, during individual learning time, and any other times permitted by the principal.

Now the district must update its policy banning personal electronic devices from “bell to bell,” meaning from the start of the school day to the end of the school day, so that they are in compliance with state regulations.

Dorchester School District Two board member Kellie Bates said they felt they needed to update their policies. However, they wanted to implement the policy at the beginning of the school year to get students comfortable with not being able to use their devices at school for a smoother transition.

“As a school district, this was something we were already working on just because we’ve seen the benefits of getting rid of cell phones in schools,” Bates said. “So we implemented it at the beginning of the school year because we didn’t want to try to implement a whole new policy halfway through the school year that these kids weren’t used to. using their phones and then halfway through the school year it’s like it’s no longer possible.

Bates said that when students are in class, the devices are currently kept in baggies behind the teacher’s desk and they are allowed to use them during the allowed times outlined in their policy.

At tonight’s meeting, Bates said they will discuss logistics: whether they still want to put devices in the pouches behind teachers’ desks, or if they want to change this to backpacks, etc. She said they will also have to decide where they want to go. students will have to put the devices away when they are allowed to use them now.

Bates said many of the district’s principals and Superintendent Dr. Shane Robbins will be at the meeting to decide how to enforce this.

She said after tonight’s committee meeting that the updated policy will have to undergo two readings by the board and go into effect after the school district’s Christmas break.

“We also wanted to make sure that going from full cell phone use to no use in January wouldn’t be a shock,” Bates said. “We had a feeling that the State Department was planning to do something in the form of a complete bell-to-bell ban, we weren’t sure, and so we made sure we covered it just to be safe and allowed them to use it during lunch and Time passes, but now we know and at least the transition won’t be that difficult for children.”