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With the start of its new school year just days away, the Bullhead City School District has reminded families of updated policies limiting students’ cellphones, personal electronic devices, and backpacks. The policies are in their second year, and the cellphone policy now falls under a new bipartisan law passed this year by the Arizona Legislature and signed by the Governor.
Student cellphones, smart watches, and fitness devices will be turned off and parked all day in locked and secure cabinets.
Backpacks will still be allowed for students in pre-kindergarten through fourth grade but prohibited for middle and junior high students. Cellphone restrictions are now statewide, and backpack limitations have also increased in other parts of the country.
The cellphone restrictions have minimized students’ inappropriate recordings of others, whether in restrooms or fights. Unauthorized recordings and photography of students on campus, school buses, or at bus stops – whether by other students or adults – not only violates district policy, but also federal and state student privacy laws, with severe consequences.
Some students locally and nationally have used their backpacks to hide items ranging from alcohol and drugs to weapons and contraband. Even clear backpacks are no longer a deterrent, according to other districts nationwide.
Since textbooks no longer go home, BCSD’s governing board agreed last year that there is no need for middle and junior high school students to have backpacks on campus.
The new policies, including the State law, have a handful of exceptions, such as students whose cellphones or trackers are used for diabetic and other physician-verified monitoring. Students may contact parents during the school day by requesting use of a landline phone in the school office. In accordance with the new state statute, parents may contact students during the school day by calling the school office and leaving a message or a request for a return call.
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