LOCKHART, Texas — On Thursday, the Lockhart Independent School District announced a change to its cellphone and electronics policy.
Beginning this fall, students will be required to keep their phones powered off while at school, according to Superintendent Mark Estrada.
Only high school students will get to turn their phones back on during lunch.
In a letter to parents, Estrada wrote the policy will "minimize the distractions cell phones and electronics cause with temptations to check notifications, text, browse the internet, and other distracting activities."
Parents can still reach their children by calling the school's front office and passing a message along. However, the policy states students will not be called out of class to answer a call.
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Students who are told more than once to turn their phone off could have it taken away, and their parents would have to pay a $20 fee to get it back.
The fees collected by this new policy will be donated to CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Central Texas, the district said.
KVUE took a look some of the other school districts in the Austin area, and Lockhart ISD isn't the only one with this kind of policy.
Austin ISD and Pflugerville ISD share similar policies, and Round Rock ISD's student handbook says students can only use phones for "instructional purposes." A spokesperson with Leander ISD told KVUE it's up to each campus and/or classroom to decide what's best for them.
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