RUTHERFORD COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — School starts back up in just a few weeks. This year, students across Tennessee will have to follow new classroom cellphone use rules.

Metro Schools and Rutherford County are still finalizing their plans. However, the Rutherford County school board is expected to make a decision at their Monday night meeting.

"They are so disruptive in the school room, and our teachers are saying it is so much calmer in the classrooms," RCS Board Member for Zone 1, Tammy Sharp, said.

This is in response to a Tennessee law requiring districts to develop a policy banning the use of "wireless communication devices" during instructional time. Other districts have already made their call.

In Williamson County, students can bring phones to school but must stay off them throughout the day. Wilson County banned phone use in class but left it up to the schools to decide what is allowed during lunch or passing periods. Board members for the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System went even further and voted to ban cellphones for the entire school day. Metro Nashville Public Schools said not much will change because they have already banned cell phone use in class but not during transitional periods.

Sharp, a board member with the Rutherford County Schools, said they have already banned cell phone use in class but not during transitional periods. She told News 2 she expects the conversation on Monday night to be short since cell phones have been banned in classrooms since 2022.

"I don't know that anybody wants to change it because we were like we thought everybody was already doing that," Sharp explained. "We didn't realize the other school systems were still allowing students to use phones."

As it stands in Rutherford County, Pre-K through 5th grade, phones cannot be used. However, in middle and high schools, phones are not allowed in class. However, they are permitted during lunch and passing periods.

"I think it makes it easier for them to have a quiet classroom," Sharp concluded.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/rutherford-county-schools-to-make-decision-on-phone-usage-in-the-classroom/