The students attending Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS) will have an updated code to adhere to this August. The Calvert County Board of Education (BOE) received an update on proposed changes to the Code of Student Conduct during their April 26 work session.
“There are not a lot of significant changes,” said Executive Director of Administration Kimberly H. Roof, who indicated most of the modifications involve the language used in the document.
The issues covered in the document include the traditional student issues such as truancy, dress, medication, transportation and suspensions.
Many of the proposed modifications are technology-driven. Students will be advised not to bring electronic devices—such as cameras, CDs, DVDs, MP3 players, IPads, Kindles, Nooks or electronic games to school. Students would run the risk of having the devices confiscated by an administrator should they be deemed disruptive or distracting to instruction. Furthermore, CCPS will not assume responsibility for these items if they are lost or stolen.
“It’s a serious theft issue,” said Roof.
The Maryland General Assembly has repealed a law prohibiting possession of portable pagers on school property, allowing instead for local school systems to set their own guidelines.
“We haven’t banned them,” said Calvert Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jack Smith. “We would prefer that the students’ own electrical devices stay at home.”
Roof has advised that CCPS also discontinue the practice of registering students’ cell phones with the school system, stating the registration form “was a really difficult thing to explain.”
Under a section of the code, entitled “Harassment, Intimidation or Bullying,” the definition of these violations will include “an intentional electronic communication on or off school property.”
Smith noted that state education officials are in the process of providing an “electronic form” for reporting bullying incidents.
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