Union?Local handbook policies set to tighten

By BRIAN COOK, Times Leader Staff Writer
ADMINISTRATORS in the Union Local School District are wrapping up the academic year and already looking toward the 2008-2009 school year with new policy changes.

“Right not, we deal with cell phone problems every day,” Union Local High School Principal Joel Davia said during Tuesday’s special board of education meeting.

The school’s current policy states students are not allowed to have cell phones on in the classroom.

“First off, we need to enforce our own rules,” Superintendent Kirk Glasgow said as he recommended to have mobile devices eliminated during school hours.

“If students have cell phones on them, they are going to use them. It is easier to not have them during school hours,” Board President Jennifer Schmitt said.

Presently, the district wants to prevent potential cheating before it happens in the district through text messaging. Board Member Stan Sobel said many schools across the country have chosen to ban cell phone usage since purchasing a “jammer” to block airwaves which has been deemed illegal by the Federal Communications Commission.

Since the district is tightening policy on cell phones, the athletic department has also requested to have cell phones banned from locker room areas.

“With camera phones, we don’t want students taking embarrassing photos of other students,” Davia said as YouTube and sites like MySpace have been known as spots for their photos or videos to appear. “The coaches don’t mind they have them, but would rather see them walk outside to use them.”

Following further discussion, Glasgow will present a stricter policy for student cell phones for the student handbook as well as the athletic department handbook during the district’s June meeting. This policy will allegedly have an end result of having a cell phone permanently confiscated from a student.

Another policy touched upon was the high school’s Ohio Graduation Test and Belmont Career Center Policy.

“We need generated data to show us whether or not the Career Center is improving their OGT scores,” Sobel explained as the district has 10 soon-to-be seniors that need to pass another section of the OGT to earn a diploma. “I do not want to see another student from our district not graduate because they did not pass this test.”

The Career Center has recently taken a more serious approach to the OGT scores, hiring a new intervention specialist and purchasing the Study Island program to enhance student’s performance.

Board members also voted to change the date from the June 19 meeting to June 26.

Cook can be reached at bcook<\@>timesleaderonline.com