FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. — The Fayette County Board of Education has unanimously taken a vote to ban the use of cellphones in the classroom.

The board voted 5 to 0 at their Tuesday night meeting to follow through with the ongoing plans to prohibit cellphones, which coincides with HB 2003 that Governor Patrick Morrisey signed into law in April.

Within the new policy, students in grades 6 through 12 would not be permitted to have cellphones in the classroom and must keep them in their lockers– 5th grade students and below would not be permitted to have them at all.

Gary Hough

School Superintendent Gary Hough says, however, that there are some exceptions relating to any medical reasons that a student or their family members may be having, which makes communication between the student and their family necessary.

“If, for example, grandma is having open heart surgery today and proper communication occurred with the school administration prior to that event, not just a child making that statement, the principal can make arrangements with that student for them to be able to get that information they need to know that grandma is okay or whatever the case may be,” Hough said.

Many of the public’s feedback regarding the new policy has been seen in a negative light as the board reviewed the public’s comments during the Tuesday board meeting as well, but Hough believes that as more information surrounding the policy is released, this will alleviate some of the opposition toward it.

He said many parents and guardians are most concerned about their children’s’ safety while they’re at school, and that concern tends to grow when their source for constant communication with them is taken away, but he wants parents to know that security within schools are more advanced now than it ever has been.

Hough said that most parents are rightfully concerned over any type of active shooter situation or active emergency that could potentially occur on school grounds, but he said whether a child could realistically stay in communication with their parent during such an event is actually not even likely.

“I’m not sure that that’s an area where, even if we had such an event, we would prevent parents from coming immediately, because we’ve got to control those areas,” he said.

He said cellphones could even actually add to the danger in an emergency scenario as parents attempting to come into the school could potentially hinder first responders and emergency service dispatchers from entering.

Hough said another facet to this safety standard that he doesn’t feel parents seem to understand is that every classroom is now coming equipped with the phones and technology that are directly connected to the main administrative office line as well as to 911.

“We can get information immediately in and out of classrooms, our camera systems tie into 911 directly, I’ve done MOUs with them, so that, if we had an event at the school, that becomes our command center immediately,” he said.

Hough added that he wants parents to know that the school system is on top of the game when it comes to ensuring students’ safety, and an emergency situation would be no exception.

“We can respond in an assault situation if there’s an event immediately, we don’t have to play, we got everything we need to get in there as quick as we can, we’ve got teams ready to roll,” Hough said.

Hough said, in addition, more evidence is now showing that parents should be more concerned with their children’s safety and wellbeing who are in possession of a cellphone.

He said that at the last superintendent’s meeting, a speaker from Highland Hospital presented a number of psychological research on the effects of cellphones for children, and their research continues to reaffirm the mental risks that are created when children are in possession of one.

“They are running a major campaign statewide, their thoughts are, according to all the psychological research, eighth grade and below should never touch an iPhone at all,” Hough said. “The psychological research is saying that it’s damaging to children.”

The school board plans to continue putting out information to parents and guardians over the next coming months to help them better understand the new policy.