Power of Presence: Electronic Device Policy

Edmond Families,

As we prepare to return to school in a little less than four weeks, I am writing to address the Power of Presence. How important it is for our students to not just be physically at school but present and engaged throughout the instructional day. That leads us to a new district policy that was approved by our Board of Education last week and will be in effect beginning this coming school year. Policy FNG prohibits the use of personal electronic devices like cell phones, tablets, smart watches, airpods, etc throughout the entire instructional day.

As you may have seen in the news, the Oklahoma Legislature passed SB 139 this past session. That law requires all public school districts in Oklahoma to adopt a policy prohibiting the use of all personal electronic devices by students throughout the entire school day. Policy FNG was passed in accordance with SB 139. We understand a new policy will come with many questions, from students as well as parents and guardians.

There are a few categories of exceptions. Those include:

  • Students who are on IEPs, Medical Plans and 504 Plans that require the use of these devices for assistive technology

  • Students who use their personal device to monitor health issues (glucose monitoring, etc)

  • The use of devices to communicate with law enforcement during a natural disaster or lockdown

  • The use of devices to call 911 or a parent if a student or someone nearby is having a severe health crisis (asthma attack, allergic reaction, seizure)

Policy FNG will be in place and enforced beginning the first day of school, August 14th. We have outlined the consequences for students who fail to follow this policy. We will not be giving warnings as it’s extremely important our students follow this policy from the first day of school. We encourage you to begin talking with your students about this new policy and what it will mean for them. 

The consequences include:

  • 1st Offense: Student walks their decide to the office and may pick it up at the end of the day

  • 2nd Offense: Student walks the device to the office and their parent may pick it up at the end of the day

  • 3rd Offense: Student will be required to check their phone into the office as soon as they arrive to school for two weeks

  • 4th Offense: Student will be required to check their phone into the office as soon as they arrive to school for four weeks

  • 5th Offense: Student will be required to check their phone into the office as soon as they arrive to school for the remainder of the semester

  • Burner phone: if a student is caught with a burner phone and that phone is confiscated, and then is seen with another phone during the same school day, that could result in additional consequences including AISP and OSS

We appreciate your cooperation with this new policy and your help explaining the importance of it to your students.

Thank you!

Dr. Josh Delich
Superintendent

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