The Shadow
LOW MOOR, Va. (VR) — The Alleghany Highlands School Division has finalized revised guidelines to restrict students’ use of cell phones and other electronic devices during the school day.
The guidelines, approved by the school board on Tuesday, Jan. 21, go into effect on Feb. 1. The guidelines comply with an executive order issued in July 2024 by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
In a proactive move, AHPS implemented guidelines on cell phones and other mobile communications devices at the start of the 2023-2024 school year. The goal was to minimize distractions in classrooms and keep students safe. Under the current guidelines, cell phones and other devices are not permitted to be used during instruction in the school; however, students are allowed to have their phones with them during school.
AHPS implemented its current guidelines after surveying parents online. AHPS also closely followed guidelines adopted in other school divisions.
In his executive order last year, the governor directed the Virginia Department of Education to release model policies for cell phone-free education. The model policies further restrict cell phone use.
“We understand that there are many positives and negatives about the ways cell phones are used in our society,” said Kim Halterman and Melinda Snead-Johnson, leaders of AHPS. “We appreciate the importance of this topic and appreciate everyone’s flexibility in making additional changes this school year.”
Under the revised AHPS guidelines, effective Feb. 1:
— Covington Middle School and Alleghany High School students will not be permitted to use cell phones between classes.
— AHS students will be allowed to use their phones for practical purposes during lunch.
Examples include communicating with families, discussing changes to afternoon plans, or contacting employers. Students at CMS will not be permitted to use phones at lunch.
— As per current practice, students in elementary schools will be allowed to bring cell phones to school; however, the phone must be turned off or placed in Do Not Disturb mode.
— AHPS will not be liable for any phone that’s brought to school by a student.
— In cases of emergency, AHPS will contact students’ families. The division uses School Messenger for emergency communications. As a reminder, parents need to keep student contact information up to date by contacting the school the student attends. It is also important for parents not to block their phones from receiving calls from AHPS. All AHPS school offices can be contacted by phone.
The Virginia Department of Education website has information on final guidance for cell phone-free education in public schools and the executive order issued by the governor last July. AHPS has previously shared information and other resources from the VDOE on its social media pages.
“There is a lot of information on cell phones from these sources, and we continue to encourage our community to read these materials,” said Halterman and Snead-Johnson.
State education officials plan to review the guidance at the end of the school year to consider ways to refine and improve it, according to the VDOE.
AHPS serves approximately 2,700 students. The school division is jointly funded by Alleghany County and the City of Covington. The school division was formed when Alleghany County Public Schools, Covington City Public Schools, and Jackson River Technical Center merged on July 1, 2022.
AHPS news and events are regularly updated on Facebook at AHPublicSchools and
Instagram at ahpublicschools. Information is also available at ahpublicschools.
