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SALT LAKE CITY -- Texas schools are allowed to charge kids $15 when they see them using cell phones in class. Utah schools don't have a fee; Davis District spokesman Chris Williams says most take the phone away instead.
He says, "If it's taken away for a certain amount of time, especially on multiple offenses, they are not going to have a cell phone for a long time. It maybe a case where the parent has to come and pick that up."
All school districts are required to have a cell phone policy, which Williams says has hopefully done away with any confusion among students. For example, in the past some teachers were more lenient than others about cell phones in class.
Williams says socking students with a cell phone usage fee would take some red tape. It would have to go to a fee committee, then to the school board. But he does say three out of their 25 secondary schools have called wondering if it is a possibility.
He says, "There will be some students who, for some reason, may think it's not a big deal to pay a fine, but I think the vast majority of kids will feel like, ‘I cannot live without my cell phone.'"
Schools in Abilene, Texas, have collected more than $100,000 from student cell phone fees in just two years.
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
