A new cell phone policy will be in effect for the 2011-2012 school year that allows cell phone use during lunch and passing periods.
While the old policy only allowed cell phone use before and after school, the new policy will allow cell phone during lunch periods--if students are in the cafeteria--and during passing periods.
"It will be helpful because, if your sport gets cancelled, you will be able to text your parents and let them know you need a ride," freshman Tori Salzwedal said.
Phones and other electronic devices will still be expected to remain silenced or turned off during any instructional periods or while in an educational area. They should be kept out of sight at these times.
Many students do not think that the new policy will lessen the amount of cell phone use during classes.
"Sometimes people need to talk to a friend about something when they aren't in lunch or between classes," sophomore Michael Rogers said.
Similar to the old policy, cell phone use is still prohibited in areas of personal privacy, such as a locker room or bathroom. Failure to comply with these guidelines will result in disciplinary action.
According to Assistant Principal Eric Maroscher, given the greater allowance of cell phone use in this new policy, it is likely that a violation of the policy will not incur a warning, but will lead directly to some sort of disciplinary action. As always, the punishment will be determined by the violator's Team Leader.
The change to the policy was brought on for several reasons. The administration has monitored the policy for numerous years, taking into account the decline of cell phone theft (now that the devices have become more common), how many texts parents send to students during the school day, and the overall maturity and responsibility of the student body.
Other schools with the same policy, such as Barrington and Cary-Grove, were visited to see the positive and negative effects of the change. The idea was also discussed with the Student Leadership Teams and with Parent Cats.
“All data from other schools similar to LHS show a decline of use in the classroom and demonstrate a benefit to the parent, as they can more fully communicate about after-school issues or other issues,” Maroscher said.
With this particular policy, only administrative approval was needed to make the change. However, the change is still brought before a district handbook committee made up of district and LHS personnel, parents and students to ensure that different people groups affected are considered.