Hillside students ask board to allow supervised phone use at lunch; superintendent to review grant implications

Jada Freer, student council representative from Hillside High School, asked the Board of Education on Oct. 30 to consider modifying the district's proposed cell phone policy to permit students to use their phones during the lunch period in the cafeteria.

"Students sometimes need to contact their parents or siblings and many of our upperclassmen work," Freer said, urging the board to allow a nonacademic window when phones could be used without consequences.

Superintendent Erskine Glover acknowledged the request and described earlier student discussions about policy options. He said Hillside has been pre-awarded a bell-to-bell grant of $6,180 if the district accepts it and noted other districts had considered purchasing phone pouches. Glover said Hillside favors a "trust factor" approach that emphasizes student responsibility rather than buying pouches and that he will consult state education officials to determine whether permitting phones at lunch would violate the grant's spirit.

No final change to the policy was adopted at the meeting. Glover said the board may discuss the matter further and that any adjustment would need to preserve the grant's intent and reinforce student responsibility during academic time.