Thousands of youngsters in the Tri-State will soon return to school as summer break draws to a conclusion. In Indiana, two new regulations pertaining to cell phone use in the classroom and absenteeism will take effect with the start of the new school year.
The first day of classes for students in Ohio County and Dearborn is Wednesday, July 31. Two measures that were signed into law by Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb in March are now operational.
A new legislation in Indiana prohibits the use of laptops, tablets, cell phones, and gaming consoles in classrooms for personal use.
“The cell phone should be off and put away, or a lot of our teachers do have certain areas where they can turn them in turned off and they can be there during the class period,” Lawrenceburg Community Schools Superintendent Karl Galey stated.
There are some situations in which using a device is acceptable, such as managing a student’s health or using it for educational reasons with consent from the teacher.
Device use is allowed for students with disabilities, and cell phone use is only allowed in an emergency.
“Will the teachers have the power to confiscate the phones? If it is being used; if it goes off, then they may take it and turn it into the administrators,” Galey stated. “They will return it at the end of the day but then it starts then increasing consequences after that.”
The most severe punishment for repeat violators, according to the superintendent, would be detention or Friday school.
A new truancy law covering grades K–6 was also passed by the Indiana legislature, but Dearborn and Ohio counties have partnered with juvenile courts, the prosecutor’s office, probation officers, and the department of child services to advance the law to include high school students as well.
- Primary Level: Up to six excused absences are allowed.
- Students in grades six through twelve are allowed four excused absences.
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“As you start accumulating those unexcused absences, it will start leading to letters from the school, letters from the probation department, visits from the probation or the department of child services and then eventually, potentially, if it gets so severe, it would lead to a visit with the circuit court judge,” Galey added.
There will be some changes, but the superintendent says he and his staff are looking forward to Wednesday’s commencement of a new school year.
He requests that all parents in Ohio counties and Dearborn school districts consult their particular district handbook, which contains the new regulations.
