ELKINS — Randolph County Schools Superintendent Dr. Shawn Dilly requested at the most recent Board of Education meeting that a special policy update concerning Personal Electronic Devices (PEDs) be released publicly for a 30-day comment period.

PEDs are any small, portable electronic device — such as a cellphone — that is typically battery-powered and can store, process, and transmit data. Common examples include smartphones, laptops, tablets, e-readers, and portable gaming consoles.

The BOE has posted the new replacement policy on the Randolph County Schools website. The policy can be found in the agendas portion of the site and is listed within the July 1 agenda under the Policies/Student Disposition section.

“Tonight I’m just asking for you to put it out for comment for 30 days,” Dilly said. “Obviously there’s options and things out there that I would normally not put out for the community, but I feel like at this point we need to decide what we are going to do… So that (30 days) would put us right there probably at the first meeting in August to approve it before the start of the school year.”

BOE members Rachel Anger, Janie Newlon, Phil Chua, Sherri Collett and Ed Daniels unanimously approved putting the policy out for public comment.

“(School principals have) seen it and I’ve asked them to give me some feedback on it,” Dilly said. “I shared it with them at the end of last week. I haven’t gotten a lot of feedback yet, but I’m sure after tonight we will get a whole lot of comments and thoughts.

“I think we just have to weigh what we want to choose to do. And then part of what I have discussed with our principals is that this comes down to enforcement really. Because our current policy isn’t bad by any means, but it’s been inconsistently enforced, depending on the school and some of the staff, depending on that.”

The new policy reads, “All personal electronic devices (PEDs) shall not be accessible to students for use in a classroom setting (i.e.,an environment where instruction or activities related to the school curriculum are occurring including, but not limited to, general classrooms, gymnasiums, common areas, or any other area where instruction may occur) during instructional time, with the exception of exemptions set forth in this policy.

“The instructional day is defined as the time from the start of the first instructional period to the end of the last instructional period, including transition between classes.”

According to the document, if students are permitted to have PEDs on school property, then before the beginning of the instructional day, students must store their PEDs as determined by school administrators, county administrators, or as stated elsewhere the policy and/or its administrative guidelines.

Students may not retrieve their PEDs until the end of the instructional day unless exemptions apply.

During the instructional day, PEDs will be stored in the student’s locker, in containers or pouches located in the front office, or in containers or pouches located in the rooms of each student’s homeroom teacher or first-period teacher.

The new policy also lists the criteria for exemptions, extracurricular activities, and student transportation. Disciplinary actions for students violating the policy are also listed.

The policy also states that parents and guardians are advised that the best way to get in touch with their child during the school day is by calling the school office. Office personnel shall transmit messages to students, who may use school phones to contact parents/guardians during the school day.

The next BOE meeting is scheduled for July 15 at 5:30 p.m.