Kyle, Texas (KVUE) - — A Central Texas school district is taking a new approach to dealing with growing cell phone issues for their high school students -- a fine.
Starting this school year, Hays Consolidated Independent School District will make students pay $10 to get their phones back if a teacher catches them using their devices and takes them away.
The previous policy let teachers take a student's phone away with the possibility that parents would be forced to pick it up themselves. School leaders said this punishment wasn't harsh enough.
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Hays CISD superintendent Eric Wright said a loss of money puts more pressure on the students to obey school rules.
"They may start by researching a topic, but by the time they get to the topic, they get notifications from Twitter, Facebook, email or text," Wright said in reference to students using their phones for class activities. "By the time they get back to where they started, they've lost 30 minutes of focus."
The board of trustees approved the new policy 5-2. There were some board members hesitant to approve the policy, saying it should only be a last resort and that the district should use other punishments, such as community service, to alleviate this issue.
While teachers will start implementing this right away, there will be a grace period during the first three days so everyone can get used to the new approach. Board president Merideth Keller said this new approach is to combat an issue that has heightened since cell phones were created.
"This is an addiction," Keller said. "Let's be real about that. Cell phones are an addiction, and I get that. If my phone were to buzz right now, I'd be like, 'Hey somebody's trying to talk to me.'"
The money collected will go toward charitable causes such as the food bank or the district's clothes closet.
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