- April 25, 2024
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Flagler Schools are going high-tech, and that begs the question: Should the buses do so as well?
The Flagler County School Board discussed on Tuesday updates to its student code of conduct, which opened a discussion about whether students should be allowed to use cell phones and other electronics on school buses. Currently, they are not.
“We are moving in a direction where every single child in middle and high school will be getting on and off the bus with a laptop or iPad,” School Board member Colleen Conklin said. “I just worry that we’re putting our bus drivers in a situation where we’re asking them to enforce something that is not realistic.”
But Jan Pannullo, training and safety specialist for the district’s transportation department, said changing the policy would be a bad idea. A split board leaned in her favor.
“Even now, when students are not allowed to use their electronics on the bus, we have so many problems with them,” Pannullo said.
She said permitting cell phone use on buses would exacerbate the problems, which range from using data networks for accessing explicit content to listening to music too loudly, creating a distraction for drivers.
But the problem that drew the most attention during Tuesday’s meeting was of videotaping. There has been an increase in cyberbullying over the last several years, and allowing cell phones on buses would create the opportunities for students to record bus events — such as fights — and then upload them to YouTube.
It is already difficult for bus drivers to monitor students while driving, Pannullo said, without them having to regulate phone usage as well.
“But all those things you’re mentioning are already happening,” Conklin said. “So we’re just going to stick our heads in the sand?”
Katrina Townsend, director of student services, said she was also concerned about any changes to technology rules.
“We have had some serious situations with some things on the buses that have occurred and been shared on the Internet,” Townsend said.
Board member Andy Dance said that a well-crafted policy that prohibits misuse of technology — such as uploading inappropriate videos — would help to fight that problem. If students violated the rules, they would be subject to disciplinary procedures, just as they are for breaking other rules.
“If you say, ‘Kids are doing it anyway, so let’s change our policy’ — I think that’s the worst thing you can ever do as a board,” said Trevor Tucker, who sits on the board. “If we can’t stop them, then we aren’t enforcing our policies.”
Conklin said she was not trying to give up on enforcing a difficult policy, but rather, to evolve with the times. If the problems are already happening, she said, the board needs to find a way to address them.
This same discussion arose around the same time last year, and Pannullo’s concerns were the same. While Conklin and Dance were in favor of revisiting the buses’ electronics policies, the other three board members were not, so the policy will remain unchanged.
