LOYAL. LOCAL. COMPLETE.
Beginning this fall, students at Paris Cooperative High School (PCHS) will no longer be permitted to carry cellphones on their person during school hours. The decision to change the school’s current cellphone policy was made during a PCHS board meeting on Monday, June 9.
“Students will not be allowed to carry cellphones. They will be in lockers from the first bell until the last bell, and that includes all electronic devices, including smart watches,” Danette Young explained to members of the school board, while reviewing several student handbook policies undergoing updates for the 2025-26 year.
The updated policy aligns with ones already in place at Mayo Middle School and Crestwood Junior High. PCHS Principal Mark Cox told the board that he hopes the change will provide “more consistency across the board” for students, especially those transitioning from junior high to high school.
Board member Greg Sabens questioned the reason to change the policy and revert to a no-phones-at-any-time policy, while simultaneously commenting that he agrees with the choice while joking about wanting the opportunity to relinquish his own phone.
In addition to aligning with neighboring schools, Cox cited potential legislation and past student issues as the primary reasons for updating the policy.
“There’s actually some legislation that’s in the works but hasn’t been passed, where you can’t have phones at school,” Cox said. “So if it would pass, we’ll be in line with that too.”
The principal shared a few examples of interactions between students and phones that supported removing phones from any and all school activities, including lunchroom problems and mid-day “shenanigans” between students.
“I’ll use an example of study hall, where they need to be doing work, but they’re on their phone instead, or they’re saying they’re using their phone to do their work,” Cox explained. “You have (one staff member) who’s walking around with the kids in study hall trying to see what they’re doing, and by the time they get to them, they’ve already flipped it back. It’s just that kind of stuff, and there are lunchroom problems.”
While Cox admits that the policy will not be the easiest to enforce, he is hopeful that staff at the high school will work together to make the transition smooth.
Training for all staff members has already been lined up, and the principal told the board they will “enforce things to the best of our ability, the same way we have enforced the current policy.”
“You’re only as good as what your people are doing in their rooms,” Cox said. “We have training for our staff, and if you think about it, what it was before was the phone caddies when you went into a classroom and we had phone caddies. There are some teachers where you just know, you walk in and you put your phone in the caddy, even when there was a substitute, the kids still put their phones in there. Different staff have a different range of tolerance … that is what we have to work on, consistency among everyone.”
Members of the school board passed the policy update unanimously. They also agreed to updates to the handbooks for coaches, sponsors, certified employees, substitute teachers, non-certified employees and extra-curricular activities for students.
Additionally, they approved the milk and food bids for the 2025-26 school year.
The board voted to approve athletic fees of $35 per student, per sport, with a 5-1 vote. Board member Kit Kirby voted no to the cost, telling her fellow board members, “I don’t believe in athletic fees.”