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Cornell School Board - Remember to leave the phone at home or buy a pouch

Remember to leave the phone at home or buy a pouch Remember to leave the phone at home or buy a pouch

Kyleigh Mercer, Cornell High School Student Council president, spoke to the board of education, Dec. 23, about the recent toy drive conducted for the Kids Community Christmas. “I’m pretty sure we had leftovers even,” said Mercer, adding that the next Student Council project is a Jan. 22 blood drive. Photo by Ginna Young

By Ginna Young

When school resumes at Cornell, Thursday, Jan. 2, students need to be ready to either hand over their cell phone upon entering the school doors or depositing them in a secure Yondr pouch they will need to purchase.

“They haven’t sold a lot of them, so I think we’re going to be collecting a lot of phones,” said superintendent Paul Schley, Dec. 19, at a board of education meeting.

Students can, of course, leave their phones at home and some had alluded that they intend to do just that.

“Which, we said, that’s the best ever,” said Schley. Stephanie Seidlitz, board treasurer, asked if kids can stash the phones in the locker room, but that is not accepted. There are no cameras in the locker rooms, so, if they are stolen or damaged, there’s no way to prove it.

Board clerk Eileen Sikora questioned if the kids can leave the phones in the office, if they can’t afford a pouch, which is about $30. That answer was also a negative.

“That’s why we’ll do a payment plan with them, if they need that,” said Schley.

Since Student Council president Kyleigh Mercer was present, board present Lyle Briggs asked her what she thought about banning phones during school hours.

Mercer feels that if kids are not being distracted by a phone, they could be bored and start picking on others, even though she sees there’s a positive to not having phones.

“You have to weigh your options,” said Mercer. During the meeting, the board approved the hire of middle school football head coach Terry Estes.

They also discussed the holiday concert, where all grades performed together. While it was agreed the concert went well and was “wonderful,” it will probably have to be broken up, as it got way too long.

Seidlitz was also disturbed that many families left after their child’s grade was done and hopes that in the future, everyone will remain until the concert is over.

“It’s a respect thing,” she said.

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