PITTSBURGH — A cell phone ban could be coming to Pittsburgh Public Schools.
Right now, it’s up to individual schools to implement policies, but this would be district-wide.
District officials say the discussion is in direct response to September’s stabbing at Carrick High School, where three students were injured.
“I think it’s probably coming a little later than it should,” PPS Board member and co-chair of the district’s Safety Committee Sylvia Wilson said.
“Cell phones are being used to threaten, bully and create chaos during the school day,” she said.
Board members say bullying was happening over social media in the lead-up to the Carrick stabbing.
“That was maybe just the icing on the cake because there have been many incidents we could probably look at,” Wilson said.
“There’s no doubt there are some incidents in our schools that were organized on social media,” Billy Hileman said. He’s the President of the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers.
“Teachers do not want cell phones in their classrooms. They spend a lot of time telling students to put them away. There’s not really a way to take them from them. It could escalate into an incident,” Hileman said.
Not everyone thinks it’s cut and dry. There is an issue of safety and a desire for parents to be in direct communication with students.
“I think it’s important for parents to be in touch with experts at the school to see what really happens in an unsafe situation to see if fears are founded or not,” PPS parent Andrea Sachdeva said.
There is now a 30-day review window. It’s unclear when a ban would actually go into effect.
In a virtual meeting Wednesday, Superintendent Dr. Wayne Walters cited managerial issues and cost as two potential roadblocks.
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