Sibley, Iowa — Incidents involving cell phones at school have caused the Sibley-Ocheyedan School Board to ban electronic devices for not only students but teachers and staff as well.
According to a document sent to the school community on Tuesday morning, devices that can receive a cellular signal are not to be brought into the school building. The policy makes only a couple of exceptions.
The Fire Department Cadets will have pagers. Students who need their personal device for medical purposes will need to have the school nurse notify the building principal so an exception to this policy can be granted.
The document says no Bluetooth or cell phone earpieces of any kind are allowed during the school day. These items will be immediately confiscated.
If devices are found during the ban, the document says they will be confiscated for the day for the first offense and a parent or guardian will be required to come to the office to retrieve the device. The second offense will result in a five-day out-of-school suspension. The third offense will result in a 10-day out-of-school suspension and a recommendation to the school board for expulsion, according to the document sent to the Sibley-Ocheyedan School District community.
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Orignial story, posted Apr 8, 2022 at 4:06 p.m.:
Sibley, Iowa — The use of a smartphone app to anonymously bully students at Sibley-Ocheyedan has caused the district superintendent to recommend that the school board ban electronic devices at the school.
We talked to Sibley-Ocheyedan Superintendent James Craig, and he tells us it’s not something they want to do, but he feels they need to.
Craig says he believes the app went out of business but was brought back to life this past summer.
Since the matter is under investigation, Mr. Craig declined to tell us the actual contents of the messages or to whom they were directed but did say it qualified as cyberbullying.
He says they’re getting some help from the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office as well.
Mr. Craig tells us that the proposal is not in effect yet, but he is recommending that the school board approve it.
He says he realizes that some people will question the policy.
The Sibley-Ocheyedan School Board will consider the proposal at their meeting on Monday, April 11th at 5:30 p.m. in the High School Library. In a letter to parents, Craig writes, “Input is welcome during the public forum portion of the meeting.” He says if the board approves the policy, it would be in effect for the rest of this school year and would be revisited when the board approves the handbook for the next school year.
