The Board of Education is taking messages from staffers to help decide how it can better control the use of cell phones by Rome school district students.

While general restrictions on cell phone usage in school are contained in students’ code of conduct requirements, concerns over impacts from the ever-present and increasingly sophisticated devices are prompting a look toward a tighter policy.

"We want to get input from teachers and administrators in different buildings" and "address all concerns" through a "comprehensive policy," said Amanda Cortese, chair of the school board’s policy committee. The committee and full board will "thoroughly discuss it before making any changes," said school board President Patricia Riedel.

Cortese said she recently was a delegate at a state School Boards Association convention where the cell-phone issue and the need for specific policies were addressed.

In addition, concerns have been expressed at school board meetings. When Cortese mentioned the policy review at the Dec. 2 meeting, Rome Teachers Association President Gene Terenzetti said teachers could help inform the board "what’s really going on with cell phones" and students. He is a teacher at Rome Free Academy, as is Paul Fitzpatrick, who in June 2007 told the board of various disruptions and problems caused by students’ cell phones.

Among issues, said Cortese, are students’ potential cheating on tests via circulating cell-phone photos of documents, and using phones to distribute "inappropriate material" of various types.

Discussions at the recent state conference indicated that some districts have pursued a "complete ban" on having cell phones on school grounds, Cortese said. But in the Rome district, the consensus is not to seek such a total ban, because the phones can be important for enabling students to get in touch with parents before and after school or during emergencies, she noted.

Besides high school students’ usage at RFA, a revised cell phone policy also will likely focus on Strough Middle School, said Cortese.

Currently, the RFA student code of conduct states that electronic devices including cell phones cannot be used during the school day and must be stored during that time. But phones can be easily concealed, and usage can be difficult to detect.

Riedel said she does "not know that there is much that you can do" beyond the current regulations, although it may be "a matter of tightening them up" in some way.

The board may review "sample policies" from the state association in addition to consulting district staff to "narrow down what issues" exist, as it considers moving beyond the current "loose policy," Cortese said.