School Board of Alachua County approves cell phone policy, discusses Newberry charter school developments

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – At the September 2 business meeting, the School Board of Alachua County adopted a cell phone policy after some confusion, approved an agreement to give GPD access to surveillance video during an emergency situation, and discussed recent developments in their effort to appeal the approval of a charter for the Newberry charter school.

Vice Chair Tina Certain announced at the beginning of the meeting that Chair Sarah Rockwell was not feeling well and would not be joining the meeting, in person or virtually.

Adoption of amendments to policies

The board held a public hearing to adopt several policies. The first one clarified that when the Chair appoints committee members, it must be with mutual agreement of the board members; the policy also authorizes the Chair to sign notes, minutes, conveyance contracts, and other legal documents that have been approved by the board.

Certain said the policy was needed because “this is really making it known that the Chair can’t just appoint people to a committee, just because they’re the Chair, and the Chair does not have the authority to put forth things that have not been agreed upon by the majority of the board… We’ve had an issue where some things were done, and I think getting it in here now, making it really clear, was needed.”

The second policy authorizes the Superintendent to execute employment contracts upon approval by the board. Certain said, “That also needed to be done, because there were some things that were done recently that the board did not approve.”

Member Janine Plavac asked for clarification, and Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Deborah Terry said the district would offer the new employee a contract, and then the contract would go to the school board at the next meeting. She added, “Like in the past, we would be able to have them start working, but we would have that approval at the next board meeting.”

Cell phone policy

The third policy, Terry said, “sets forth the prohibitions for students’ use of personally owned wireless communications devices for elementary, middle, and high school students.”

The relevant part of the new policy is quoted below:

Student Use of a Personal WCD 

A. During School Hours 

1. During class instruction: 

• a. Elementary and middle school students may not use a WCD during the school day. 
• b. High school students may only use personal WCDs during classroom instructional time only as permitted by the classroom teacher and in accordance with Policy 7540.03, Use of Technology by Students. At all other times, students must place their WCDs in the location the classroom teacher’s designates. 
  • a. Students will access the District’s network through the Board’s approved network only. 
  • b. Students will completely charge personal devices prior to bringing them to school and operate them using battery power while at school. Students are not to charge WCDs while at school. 
  • c. Students must have current virus protection software installed and agree to keep the software updated on a regular basis. 

2. At all other times during school hours: 

High school students must have WCDs powered completely off (not just placed into vibrate or silent mode) and stored out of sight.

3. Exceptions: The Superintendent, in consultation with the principal, may waive the prohibited uses of WCDs during the school day on a case-by-case basis for reasons such as, but not limited to:

• a. a student’s individual education plan (IEP);
• b. the student’s 504 plan;
• c. a doctor’s note from a licensed physical requiring the use of the WCD based upon valid clinical reasoning or evidence.

B. On school buses:

Students may use WCDs while riding on a school bus or other Board-approved vehicles. Students must use headphones when using the audio feature of the device. The bus driver may suspend the use of WCDs if their use becomes disruptive or distracting. Students may also be disciplined for disruptive or inappropriate behavior related to the possession or use of WCDs.

C. Before and after school, at school-sponsored activities, including extended day and other after-school activities:

Students may use WCD’s before and after school, at school-sponsored activities, including extended day and other after-school activities provided the use does not interfere with the activity; create a distraction or disruption and follows the directives of the school’s administration. Students may be disciplined for disruptive or inappropriate behavior related to the possession or use of WCDs.

However, the policy posted on the district’s site states the following:

At all elementary and middle schools and at High Springs Community School, Oak View Middle School, Hawthorne Middle/High School, such personal devices must remain powered off and stored out of sight from arrival on campus to departure from the campus.

At high schools (except for Hawthorne and A. Quinn Jones, which follow the elementary/middle guidelines) and at Sidney Lanier, devices must remain powered off and stored out of sight during instructional time. High school teachers may grant permission for students to use wireless communication devices during class for instructional purposes only.

Plavac said board members received communications from parents “about a clarification when a student can use their cell phone at the end of school, and there was an instance when a student missed a bus, [and] the administrator did not let them use their cell phone to contact their parents because they were still on campus. I personally think that when the bell rings, they should use their phone because school has ended, technically… As soon as the bell rings, they’re done with their instructional time.”

Superintendent Kamela Patton said they heard “from two parents. There are about 13,000 secondary parents, so I think we have to keep things in proportion… I agree that that did happen, but again, two of 13,000,… so I think it’s working.”

Member Thomas Vu said it was “common sense” that a student could contact a parent at the end of the school day to arrange transportation, but “I still agree that if you’re on our campuses and you’re in elementary, middle school, you should not be using your cell phone, because that’s internet access on a device that — statistically speaking, most kids have no filters on them. So I’d rather them not be on… TikTok or any type of social media or even, just, you know, coordinating where students are doing things they shouldn’t be doing on campus. I still like the policy as is.” 

Certain said she wanted to “wait and see. Let’s see how this goes.” She said if they get “a lot of feedback from teachers and parents,” they might decide to modify the policy.

Member Leanetta McNealy said that after the shooting in Minneapolis, she thought it was important for students to be able to use their phones in emergencies. 

Plavac said, “It’s not our job to be the parent. It is our job to teach them,… and I think as soon as that bell rings, when they’re done, we are done for instructional time. And if they’re going to get on TikTok, they’re going to get on TikTok, no matter where they are, whether they’re on our campus or not.” She said she believed the statute only prohibits the use of cell phones during instructional time. 

Assistant Superintendent for Student Support Services Anntwanique Edwards clarified that the policy prohibits elementary and middle school students from using their devices “while they’re on campus, throughout the school day. For high school students, it’s not during their instructional time. The law also, however, permits school districts to make decisions to be more restrictive if they so desire.”

Certain said the policy was “bell to bell” unless high school teachers allow use of phones, and Edwards corrected her: “We did initially begin with bell to bell, that’s where the policy was, but actually, in the procedures that we have for this current school year, it is departure from campus.”

Certain said that if students are staying after school for “practice or something, they may not be departing… They can use their phone.” Patton added, “Anybody, when they have extracurricular activities, they are welcome to use the phones for whatever they need.” 

Patton asked Edwards if she wanted to correct herself, and Edwards said, “What happens after the school bell rings is a concern that did come up, and we had the discussion, and it was determined, for our school district, that we would go until students departed from campus… For those students who might [go home on a school bus],… we said that… not just when the bell rang, but until they left from campus, they’re not to use the phone.” She said the policy was “very similar to what already existed. Off and away was always the expectation.”

Patton said, “I’m not sure what’s happening, but I know that we have gone through this with our principals and APs, ad nauseam. That’s why it’s working right now, because everybody is on the same page.”

Vu made a motion to approve the policies, and McNealy seconded the motion. The motion passed 4-0, with Rockwell absent.

Agreement to access surveillance cameras

The board next took up the approval of an agreement to give Gainesville Police Department (GPD) access to real-time video feeds from the district’s surveillance cameras during an active incident; Certain had pulled the item from the consent agenda.

McNealy made a motion to adopt the agreement, and Vu seconded the motion.

Certain said she’d had a lot of questions about the agreement, but most of them had been answered, and the only thing she was still stuck on was the time period: the agreement runs through August 2030, and she wanted to reduce it to a two-year period “and see how this goes.”

Vu said his understanding was that most districts have a similar agreement, “the actions we’re permitting here were more or less already being done, and this just formalizes it in a contract.”

Patton said the contract has a clause that lets the district cancel the agreement at any time, and “this is only for emergencies and only for the Gainesville Police Department… It’s only able to help in a true emergency, not to monitor kids.”

The motion passed 4-0, with Rockwell absent.

Certain said, “I want to believe in law enforcement having a good tool… in case there’s an emergency, but… my biggest concern was this being used inappropriately or being used to case kids for things that happen outside of school. That’s a big concern of mine, it being used just to over-surveil students and staff, and I don’t think we want people to just be so uptight that they’re always being watched.”

After Plavac said GPD officers are professionals and thanked them “for watching out for our students if we ever need you,” Certain said, “It’s not that I don’t trust them and I don’t appreciate the work that they do,… but sometimes there are some people that do things inappropriately,.. and we have guard rails,… but sometimes at your best, things still happen.” She said her husband was in law enforcement, and “I have the utmost respect for law enforcement, but hey, law enforcement sometimes have done things that’s not right.”

GPD Major Jaime Kurnick said the agency has “strict policies and guidelines about how those cameras and things can be used,… and this is where the technology is going in order to better respond and prepare for critical incidents.”

Certain thanked her and said, “You know, I listen to too much NPR, and with the facial recognition and the AI and stuff, there is bias in that… It’s not always right.”

Newberry charter school appeal

During board member announcements, Certain said she attended the State Board of Education meeting on August 20, and “I think they searched very hard to find a couple video clips to fit into the narrative of the letter that was sent to Dr. Rockwell… I’m of the opinion that the order was pre-written before we got there and said a word, based on the time that it was sent… So we have to do this reporting after every meeting, and they’ll be monitoring us, and they say that the sole decision is up to him (Commissioner of Education Kamoutsas), whether or not we violate the order. I think, if that is the case,… he could watch the meeting today, and if it’s a bad day for him, I guess he could say we violated the order. But I think if that’s the case, I’m hoping that we’d have three votes to contest that.”

She said she went to Tallahassee on August 25 and met with Attorney Terry Harmon from Sniffen and Spellman, a law firm under contract with the School Board of Alachua County. Certain attended the Charter Appeal Committee meeting and thought the district “had a chance” on the question of whether the teachers’ vote to establish a charter school in Newberry had passed; the district and charter opponents have argued that it didn’t pass because a State rule said it had to be 50%+1, but the rule was later changed after the Florida Department of Education decided the rule did not align with Florida Statutes.

Certain said the two representatives of school districts voted in favor of Alachua County Public Schools, and the two “pro-charter” representatives voted in favor of the charter school, “so it was downhill from there.”

She said the board should have a discussion about what to do next because the Charter Review Committee is “all appointees by the Governor,” and the Charter Appeal Committee was “appointees, slanted charters.” She continued, “I think if we go before an administrative judge, or whoever that judge would be, I think we would possibly have a fair hearing.”

She said the Charter Appeal Committee’s decision will go back to the State Board of Education, but “you can make money that they’re going to approve it.”

Offering classes to homeschooled students

She also brought up the Personalized Education Program (PEP) program, a scholarship option that provides homeschooled students with about $8,000 each year: “I am a fierce public school advocate, and… a lot of what is happening currently and has, over the past 20 years, has been chipping away at the structure of public education, towards privatizing it… I think we cannot normalize what is happening and start just kind of complying with a lot of this stuff — or, let me say, complying, because we have to follow the law.” She said that in the Step Up For Students book, “there is no requirement for public schools or charter schools or school districts to contract for services with a scholarship participant… Being able to… kind of shop for school services… is going to destroy public schools, and if you make people think they can come and take a class here and there,… that doesn’t sit well with me, and I don’t want to normalize that.”

She said she ddn’t want to accommodate homeschooled students who want to take a class at a public school, and she wanted the Superintendent to bring that to the school board for a vote. 

Vu said he disagreed because “we also get to decide what we charge” for those classes. He said he has spoken with parents who feel confident in their ability to teach their children through middle school, but they don’t feel confident teaching AP classes, for example. He continued, “We can’t change that landscape, right?… We can either just sit there and try to stop the tide of water, or we can flow with it. Why not just be more open to this? Be more open to different ways of getting funding from these families.”

Patton said they’ve been providing courses to homeschooled students “for a long time.” She said the new system is “easier for us with the funding because we just declare the FTE, because they’re actually registered with us.”

LGBTQ History Month and Superintendent search

Certain also asked Patton to put a proclamation for LGBTQ History Month on an October agenda. 

McNealy asked for a Superintendent search to be placed on the next agenda, and Vu agreed.