Brunswick County Board of Education discusses potential for ‘phone free schools’

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Brunswick County Board of Education members discussed the potential for phone free schools at their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday.

During the meeting, school board member Steve Gainey gave a presentation which included results from surveys of Brunswick County Schools administrators and more than 400 middle and high school teachers.

According to the survey results:

• 12% of administrators estimated more than 15 minutes of instructional time were lost during class on average due to student cell phone use.
• Almost 20% of administrators estimated between 10 and 15 minutes of instructional time were lost during class on average due to student cell phone use.
• 32% of administrators estimated between 5 and 10 minutes of instructional time were lost during class on average due to student cell phone use.

Gainey said the lost instructional time was one of the key reasons the board wanted to explore a phone free school environment that could improve academic outcomes.

About 75% of middle and high school teachers surveyed agreed the school board should consider new policies to curb phone usage by students.

No decisions were made at Tuesday night’s meeting, but the school board did pass a motion to instruct Brunswick County Schools Superintendent Dale Cole to present a recommendation for two phone free school pilot programs at the school board’s June committee meeting with the potential for implementation at two schools this fall.

To watch the full remarks from Tuesday night’s Brunswick County Schools Board of Education meeting, click here.