Principal Shandon Tweedy greets students (from left) Tolby Hastings, Ayden Latta and Siddig Bakiya as they scan their Yondr pouches on Feb. 12, 2025, at Horace Mann Middle School, in Kanawha City.
Lindsey McIntosh, general counsel for Kanawha County Schools, explains the district's new cell phone policy to members of the Board of Education at a Monday, Aug. 11, 2025 board meeting in Charleston.
Principal Shandon Tweedy greets students (from left) Tolby Hastings, Ayden Latta and Siddig Bakiya as they scan their Yondr pouches on Feb. 12, 2025, at Horace Mann Middle School, in Kanawha City.
To comply with a new state law, the Kanawha County Board of Education has unanimously approved a districtwide policy limiting students’ cell phone use during the school day.
Until now, individual schools set their own rules, but requires all school boards to adopt policies that restrict cell phone use. According to KCS's general counsel, the law’s wording left some room for interpretation, particularly in distinguishing between the “instructional day†— potentially the entire school day — and “instructional time,†which more clearly applies to class periods.
Lindsey McIntosh, general counsel for Kanawha County Schools, explains the district's new cell phone policy to members of the Board of Education at a Monday, Aug. 11, 2025 board meeting in Charleston.
SIERRA MARLING | Gazette-Mail
Staff were tasked with interpreting the code to create a policy that fit KCS best. KCS's General Counsel Lindsey McIntosh explained that ambiguity within the law created challenges.
After consulting principals, parents, and students, the district decided that phones must be stored during instructional time but can be used during non-instructional periods like lunch and class transitions, depending on grade level:
The new rules passed by the school board on Monday are:
Elementary students: Cell phones and personal electronic devices are not to be used at all during the school day. Devices must be kept away from students all day.
Middle school students: Students are not allowed to access or use their phones at any time during the instructional day. Devices must be stored (in lockers, pouches, or as determined by each school) and remain inaccessible until the end of the school day.
High school students: Students must store their phones in lockers during instructional time, but are permitted to use their phones during lunch and class transitions (non-instructional periods). After these periods, phones must be returned to lockers. The policy requires all high schools to provide lockers for this purpose.
"[High schools] had to have lockers," said McIntosh. "Because the only way that this works in the high school setting, [and] not in middle school, is with lockers. Because if they had [security] pouches, for instance, and they were allowed to have it during lunch or transition, you'd have to be locking and unlocking those pouches [at every transition.]"
Parent concerns
KCS sought comment from principals, students, and parents. McIntosh said parents had several safety concerns during the policy’s development, including:
Device security: Phones are expensive, but staff say lockers will provide more protection from theft.
Emergency communication: Parents wanted phones kept on (but silenced) so they could track their children with apps like and contact them if needed.
Medical needs: Exceptions will be made only for students with a documented health plan, such as diabetics who need real-time glucose monitoring. Other needs, like anxiety or medication reminders, don’t qualify unless part of an official plan. If the need can be met with school-provided technology, that option will be used instead.
"Every classroom has a red button that it touched," said board member Tracy White, referring to emergency communication devices in classrooms. "It gives an emergency response to the office. On iPad, students have an emergency icon where they can report something immediately, and it goes straight to our security. We have a number of ways students can't communicate if there's an emergency. The other thing is, if a student is in the hallway and there is an emergency, they can get their cell phone out. "Additionally, if a need can be met with school-provided technology (like an iPad timer), the policy requires that option to be used instead of a personal device.
White acknowledged this could be a hurdle for staff to enforce.
“I know we wouldn't probably have come up with this policy, but the legislature passed a law, and we are charged with enforcing it," she said. "This is going to be a hard time. If you took our phones away from us, it would be difficult. We shouldn't have phones in the classroom. That should be instructional time. It's just something that we as human beings are now used to having that phone as our third body part. and I feel for our staff come Friday.â€
Both she and Board President Ric Cavender feel that the new policy will ultimately benefit KCS.
"I think that this will probably be much better for the instructional day," said Cavender after the meeting. "It’s going to create a whole lot less distraction for our students throughout the day, keep them focused. And I think we’ll probably see some really good benefits.â€
If students are out of line, however, they will be punished according to KCS's disciplinary policies.
The disciplinary action for violating the cell phone policy follows a progressive system:
First Infraction: The student receives a verbal warning, documented in the school’s disciplinary system.
Second Infraction: The student’s device is confiscated, but the student can pick it up at the end of the day.
Third Infraction: The device is confiscated again, but this time a parent must pick it up at the end of the day.
Fourth Infraction: The violation is escalated to the district’s behavior policy.
Consequences could include:
Revocation of cell phone privileges
Denial of participation in class and/or school activities, such as field trips, prom, graduation ceremonies, etc.
Immediate classroom exclusion with a recommended duration of one period/subject of the school day for the first exclusion
In-school suspension
Out-of-school suspension for a maximum of three days
Every infraction, including verbal warnings, must be documented immediately to prevent multiple infractions accumulating unnoticed in one day, McIntosh said.
The policy is designed to give students a chance to adjust and correct their behavior before facing more serious consequences, while also ensuring consistency and accountability across the district.
What's next
To kick off the school year, Superintendent Paula Potter will also be conducting in-person town halls where parents can voice their concerns or support for the upcoming school year.
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