HENRY COUNTY, Va. (WSET) — Southside schools are taking steps to crack down on cell phone use during the school day, and changes are expected soon.
Henry County School Board officials said that students should anticipate new rules after the board met last night to discuss revisions to its cell phone policy.
Under the updated plan, students will be required to store their phones off their bodies throughout the school day. A new “bell-to-bell” rule will also eliminate cell phone use between classes.
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Ben Gravely, vice chair of the Henry County School Board, said the goal of the changes is to ensure students understand the expectations for phone use.
“We wanted to make sure that moving forward, bell-to-bell means no visible cell phones,” Gravely said. “So again, making sure that they understand what the expectations are.”
Gravely also outlined the consequences for students who are caught with a phone: The first offense will result in the phone being taken and returned to the student’s parent at the end of the day.
After that violations will lead to in-school suspension, and, eventually, after repeated offenses, students could have out-of-school suspension.
The school board is scheduled to vote on the plan in December, with the new policy set to take effect in January 2025 if approved.