Disconnected: SBHS yet to determine how to enforce district's electronics

Zac Estrada Rosales
News Editor

By the start of classes in the fall, students walking with headphones in the halls or texting while talking to their friends could possibly be a thing of the past.

Last Tuesday the Santa Barbara School District board voted 3-2 to ban the use of electronic devices such as mobile phones and MP3 players on all campuses during school hours. For students, this will mean they are forbidden to use such electronics until after their last class ends.

But administrators at Santa Barbara High School are not yet sure how the new policy will be enforced in the fall.

At the May 13 meeting, board members Nancy Harter and Annette Cordero were against the policy, calling it unreasonable and unenforceable.

But the other members, Kate Parker Laura Malakoff, and Bob Noel, disagreed, and said students should be spending their class time listening to their teachers, and their free time interacting with other students.

The District does not have a standing rule on the use of electronic devices in class at the moment, but each school has added its own rules over the years. At Santa Barbara High School, all electronic devices are not allowed during class. However it is the teacher’s responsibility to confiscate the device and turn it into the Assistant Principal’s office for the student’s parent to pick up.

Kate Parker, who voted for the amendment to the discipline code, said the new rules ban the usage, not possession of electronics on campus. “Many districts across the nation, including New York City schools, have forbidden the actual possession of cell phones at school,” she said, “but we have not gone that far.”

Assistant Principal Dave Meister said, “the changes to the discipline code will make changes for the better in terms of thefts relating to cell phones and MP3 devices.” He said there have been more than 100 students reporting phones and iPods stolen.

But Meister said that nothing has been made official as far as enforcing the new district policy is concerned. So far there is no plan to monitor the use of cell phones between classes and during lunch.

“Students should be able to carry cell phones with them for a variety of safety reasons,” said Nancy Harter, who cast one of the two dissenting votes. “But phone and iPod use during the school day can present problems from minor interruptions to the more serious prospect of cheating or sharing inappropriate information.”

A policy similar to the one instated by the District is already enforced at San Marcos High School and at the District’s junior high schools.

SBHS economics teacher John Bolitho has his doubts about the new policy. He does not allow phones to be visible during his classes, but not all students follow the rules. “Who is going to enforce it,” he said.

Bolitho said he has personally taken student phones to the AP office to be picked up, but does not make it a regular practice. He also said he did not think the new policy would not cut down on cheating through texting.

Students also have yet to be sold on the idea of not being able to pull out their phones at any point in the day. “It’s problematic because people need to use their cell phones for emergencies and to communicate with parents,” said freshman Michael Starnes. “It will cut down on cheating though. All in all, it’s more important as a device for making contacts.”