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Hoover schools Superintendent Kathy Murphy said she plans to propose a policy that would prohibit students from having cell phones, earbuds or headsets out in the classroom because it has become too disruptive to the learning environment.
The Vestavia Hills Board of Education on Monday officially adopted a new state law prohibiting students’ use of cellphones and other wireless communication devices during the school day as part of the school system’s policies.
The new law, signed by Gov. Kay Ivey in May and going into effect July 1, prohibits students from even having phones on their person once the instructional part of the school day officially starts and until the official end of the school day.
In Vestavia Hills, cellphones already were prohibited during the school day for students in grades K-8, so the new law and school system policy will most affect students in grades 9-12, Superintendent Todd Freeman said.
Now, middle and high school students will be required to keep their cellphones at home, in their vehicles or in their lockers during the entire school day, Freeman said. They will not be allowed to have them in their pockets or in their backpacks with them as they go to class or to retrieve them from their lockers or use them in between classes or at lunch, he said.
Elementary students who bring cellphones or other communication devices to school will be given a place in the classroom to store them during the school day, Freeman said.
It’s a significant change that will require some adjustment for high school students and their families because communication even with parents will be limited, he said.
“I certainly think the governor was wise in promoting this from the start,” Freeman said. “There’s a lot of research, a lot of evidence of how something like this can be beneficial to the school environment,” he said.
It should help remove distractions for students and help them improve their personal communication skills as students get off their phones and start listening and talking to one another, Freeman said.
Vestavia Hills school officials during this past school year did a study on a book called “The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt and encouraged parents to engage with the book as well, Freeman said. It delves into the impact of cellphones and social media on the development and mental health of young people, he said.
There are exceptions in the new state law and school board policy for emergency situations threatening the life or safety of the student or another person, as well as exceptions for when cellphones or wireless devices are part of a special education student's individualized education plan or individualized health plan. See the new policy here.
In other business Monday, the Vestavia Hills Board of Education:
- Approved a new salary schedule that included pay increases of between 1 and 2% for bookkeepers and secretaries with at least 20 years in the system, among a few other changes.
- Approved a new student fee schedule for the 2025-26 school year. See that schedule in Monday's school board packet here.
- Changed property insurance companies to a company whose costs are a little higher but have a much higher level coverage for school facilities. Freeman said the insurance provider the system has been using did not cover things such as flooding or artificial turf. Flooding that occurred at Vestavia Hills Elementary West at the end of this past school year likely will cost the system at least $400,000, and insurance would not pay for it, he said.
