Saline school board adopts new cell phone, fund balance policies
Starting this fall, Saline students will be able to use their cell phones during their lunch period in the lunchroom and/or with the classroom teacher’s permission for “an instructional purpose.”
The Saline Board of Education unanimously approved the change in the “electronic communication devices” policy at Tuesday night’s board meeting. Previously, cell phones were not allowed to be used unless approved by the building principal.
The board also approved a new policy for the amount the district must have in its fund balance. The balance is to be maintained in a range from 5 to 20 percent of the “annual expenditures and outgoing transfers.”
Should the balance drop below 5 percent, it “shall be replenished over a period not to exceed two years.”
And, should it exceed 20 percent of the general fund, “the district shall consider such fund balances surpluses for one-time expenditures that are nonrecurring."
The money can be used for a pilot program that does not require additional “future expense outlays for maintenance, additional staffing or other established recurring expenditures.”
The new fund balance policy will come into pay next year because the board approved a budget for the 2011-2012 school year that leaves the district’s fund balance at $1.871 million, or 3.64 percent of the district’s expenditures.
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Comments
realdealeducator
Fri, Jul 1, 2011 : 8:46 p.m.
Improved Technology—Increased Distraction Although the bans have largely been removed, the problems—or distractions—of cell phone technology have only increased. Students can use their cell phones to write and send text messages, take and send digital photos, and even take and send short digital video clips, in addition to making phone calls. Nearly all of the uses can become inappropriate and undesirable in middle and high school classrooms. The key problems teachers have with unsanctioned cell phone use in schools include: Sending friends text messages during class time. Sending or receiving test answers. Bullying or harassment via unwanted text messaging. Taking and distributing inappropriate digital photos of students. Some schools are questioning whether the policy is truly serving to make the school a more secure environment, or whether they simply make it easier for inappropriate behaviors to go unnoticed.