The state-mandated classroom cellphone ban and approval of teacher stipends took center stage during the Taylor Independent School District meeting this past week.
House Bill 1481 approved by the 89th Legislature prohibits students’ use of personal communications devices, such as cellphones, smartwatches and tablets, at school.
“The root of this bill is to eliminate anything that gets in the way of students’ learning, and their engagement with each other and their teachers,” said Superintendent Jennifer Garcia-Edwardsen.
Classes start Aug. 13. Daniella Ogundare, director of student services, told trustees the bill did not differ much from the district’s existing policy.
In conjunction with the state mandate, Ogundare and her team proposed banning all personal communication devices during the instructional school day with each campus providing either a locker or a lockbox where students can place their devices.
High school students will also have the option to lock their phones in their cars.
If parents indicate they want their students to have their cellphones available at school, the phones must still be placed in a lockbox in a campus-designated area.
In the event of a personal or health emergency, students would have the opportunity to go to a nurse or the front office to retrieve their phones to call a parent.
Critics of the bill worried students would not be able to
“
We don’t want to be giving, giving, giving and then take it away.”
— Cheryl Carter, Taylor ISD trustee signal for help during a crisis.
“If there is a campus- wide emergency, we would communicate through our ParentSquare (communication platform), social media or AllCalls (an automated communication system),” Ogundare said.
The state does allow some leeway for cellphones during extracurricular activities.
Ogundare said the district does not yet have a strategy in place for sporting or other similar events.
“We are working that out with Coach (Earven) Flowers,” Ogundare said.
Some students require their phones for medical purposes. Ogundare said those students will be allowed to keep their phones with them if they present a doctor’s note and their medical history must already be listed in their Individualized Educational Program plans, which support students with disabilities.
“These students will still not be allowed to use their phones, but their phones will be kept with them in their backpacks, still close enough to monitor their health,” Ogundare said.
Violations include:
• First offense — the device is taken away and returned to the pupil at the end of the school day.
• Second offense — the front office will keep the device and a parent must come to the school to pick it up.
There are also corrective steps the student must take, and a full version of the new policy will be posted at the beginning of the school year.
“As with any rule that’s being implemented, the key to success is starting this from the get-go and maintaining it,” said trustee Anita Volek.
Meanwhile, the school board authorized teacher stipends at a cost of $247,000 on top of recently stateapproved pay raises, but not before the issue sparked a discussion among school board members.
Jennifer Patschke, assistant superintendent of human resources, said while the district offered signing bonuses to attract new staff, the idea of a teacher stipend honors the dedication of current employees.
Patschke proposed a longevity stipend of $500 for every five years an employee worked for the district.
“For example, if you’ve worked here for five years, you’d get $500. If you’ve worked here 20 years, you’d get $2,000,” Patschke said.
School board members raised questions and voiced concerns about the plan and price tag.
Trustee Marilyn Tennill worried the program could be misunderstood and teachers would expect an annual stipend as opposed to every five years.
Trustee Joe Meller wondered if teachers who had been written up or were noted underperformers would receive the same stipend as those who exceeded expectations.
Their colleague, Cheryl Carter, was concerned whether there would be enough money in the budget each year to pay the stipend.
“We don’t want to be giving, giving, giving and then take it away,” Carter said.
Board president Marco Ortiz agreed, saying the program needed to be sustainable. He proposed instead payouts every five, 10 and 15 years, that upon retirement teachers then received their stipend.
After much back and forth, Volek made a motion to proceed with the plan as presented and it carried.
“When we make decisions like this, when we start talking about things and work it out, that’s what success is all about,” Ortiz told fellow trustees.
The next board meeting is 6:30 p.m. Aug.14 at 3101 N. Main St.
