Allegheny Valley School Board divided over students' cellphone use in schools

Allegheny Valley School Board members haven’t come to a consensus on students’ cellphone access and use in district schools.

A debate came Tuesday night after Superintendent Patrick Graczyk recommended the district continue its current policy this school year, which allows cellphones to be used in areas like the hallway or cafeteria, but not in classrooms.

Graczyk said the district had encountered minimal issues with the policy, seeing only about a half-dozen repeat student offenders.

But board member Paula Jean Moretti said she’d like to see cellphones banned during the school day.

It’s an increasingly common step as districts consider how to balance the rising need for technological literacy with the potential negative effects of social media on student mental health and social development.

Districts like Carlynton and Monessen require students to place cellphones in locked magnetic bags for the duration of the school day, while Penn Hills students turn in their phones at the beginning of the day and retrieve them during dismissal.

Moretti said Allegheny Valley should consider similar policies, which she said are connected to higher test scores among students.

Her counterpart Mary Ellen Ecker agreed.

“It’s not only the disruptions in the classroom. It’s the social time to be with each other, to talk to each other.”

But several other board members pushed back.

Salvatore Conte, who occasionally entered into verbal back-and-forths with Moretti, said cellphones are part of the modern world, and it was not the board’s place to govern their use.

According to board member Nicole Paulovich, it would be better for students to learn how to self-regulate cellphone use rather than having the devices taken away.

Board member Amy Sarno said any decision about a potential phone ban should be made based on district data with clear goals in mind. From her experience in Allegheny Valley schools, Sarno said cellphones don’t seem to dull social interactions in the lunchroom or hallways.

For his part, board member Larry Pollick said he noticed the trend of banning cellphone use, but he preferred to go with Graczyk’s recommendation.

The policy, though it generated an extended discussion, wasn’t up for a vote.

And at least for now, Allegheny Valley’s phone policy will remain the same.

But board President Nino Pollino said discussions would likely continue among the board’s policy committee.

Legislators in Harrisburg could make the decision for them, however.

State Sens. Devlin Robinson, R-Bridgeville; Vincent Hughes, D-Philadelphia; and Steven Santarsiero, D-Bucks, announced plans in July to introduce legislation restricting cellphone use in all 500 Pennsylvania public school districts.

If enacted, Pennsylvania would join 27 other states that have varying degrees of phone restrictions in schools.

The first day of school at Allegheny Valley is set for Monday.