Towards the end of August, a letter to parents and students in grades eight through 12 was sent out regarding the new phone policy. The letter states, “Unauthorized cell phone use has been a spark of conflict in the past between some students and teachers…Because of this, we will collect phones and lock them at the entrance each morning.”Starting at 7:40 a.m., when the front doors to the Block Island School open, two teachers stand next to a phone box and collect all high schoolers’ phones while checking off each name to keep track. “We have ordered a special storage case. Phones will be returned at lunch and then collected once again until dismissal. Students can call home using one of the many phones in the school, and as a parent, if you need to contact your child during the school day, the school office will deliver the message,” the letter states.
There have been many different opinions expressed by teachers and students throughout the high school on the new phone policy. History teacher Jayne Conway referred to her past with dealing with phone regulations. “In my early days of teaching, cell phones were not allowed inschool. If
