WAURIKA — By Jeff Kaley

Waurika News-Democrat



After experimenting with different methods, the Waurika board of education decided the best way to deal with the issue of cellphones was the most direct way — banning their presence.

During a regular meeting Monday night, board members acted on a recommendation from Superintendent Roxie Terry to adjust the district’s policy on student cellphone use during school hours. It came while the board considered several policy changes, some which were for updates in language, some pertaining only to local school issues and some that were mandated by the Oklahoma state legislature.

The cellphone issue was a local policy change. It came after Waurika’s administration tried several ways of regulating cellphone use in the past few years, none of which produced the desired effect.

“We’ve been trying different (methods), but the only way it will work is just to have no (student) cellphone use at school,” Terry told the four board members gathered in the library at Waurika High School. (Board member Scott Day was absent.)

“We’re having so much trouble with ‘texting’ and phones ringing during class. It’s amazing how many parents call their kids during class,” Terry said. “So the best way to handle it is just to not allow student to have the phones during school hours.

“They can leave their phones in their vehicles, and if they don’t drive to school, they can be checked in at the office.”

Asked about disciplinary action, Terry said if a student had a phone in their possession during school hours, it would be confiscated by an instructor or administrator and taken to the office. “We’ll call a parent or guardian and tell them what’s happened, and then we’ll release the phone only to a parent or guardian.

“If there’s a second problem, we’ll use other discipline measures.”

Following the unanimous vote, board member Ronnie Morgan acknowledged the dependence many students and parents have developed on free cellphone usage. “We may want to provide psychological counseling to help students and parents wean themselves from their phones,” he said, only partly in jest.

Other policy changes approved dealt with:

FNCGA, which deals with the weapons-free school policy.

EMDC and EMDA, which are policy changes dictated when the legislature passed laws dealing with students learning about the U.S. Constitution and the observance of Veteran’s Day.

CKAD, which mandates a minimum of one school lock-down drill each semester.

FE-P, which was changed following new legislation on procedures in dealing with juvenile sex offenders.

FFAC-P, which deals with school staff administering basic first aid for specific cases.

FFACC-P and FFACA, two changes dealing with access to an information sheet and a medical management plan in regard to diabetic students.

During the administrators report, Dale Spradlin, high school and middle school principal, announced that the district has initiated a “Saturday school” program, which will be held from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays, at the high school.

Spradlin said the program was being driven by “three different things.”

“One is the policies that were adopted (Monday night),” he said. “Another is that we’ll use the Saturday school in lieu of ISD (in-school detention), which we’re not using this year. We’ll still have after-school detention, but the Saturday school will be for repeat offenders or kids who’ve committed more serious offense.”

“And it’s not all about punishment,” he added, “Saturday school can also be used by kids who have missed school work or had excessive excused absences. It will help them catch up on their school work.”

Noting that the “Saturday school” program was patterned after a successful program used in the Comanche school district, Spradlin said students who’ve been assigned to attend for disciplinary reasons and don’t attend the session will be considered truant. That would make them eligible for repercussions found in the City of Waurika truancy ordinance.

The board also accepted a bid from Ross Transportation for purchase of a new bus that will be used by extracurricular teams and organizations. The bid from Ross Transportation was $83,284 was below that of bids from Roberts Trucking Co. and Midwest School Buses.

The “travel bus” is a 71-passenger vehicle, which features storage boxes and air conditioning.

Terry noted that the board as a plan to replace two buses each year, and he said the district would need to add a new “route bus” in the future. However, he suggested that purchase be postponed “until after the mid-term (enrollment) adjustment in December.”

“We can bid it again in October or November,” Terry said.