KYLE, Texas (WSVN) — Students in one central Texas school district will have to pay a $10 fine in order to get their confiscated phones back.
The new policy at Hays Consolidated Independent School District, located about 20 miles south of Austin, says students must pay the fee if a teacher catches them using their cell phone and takes it away, KVUE reports.
The new rule replaces a previous policy that said parents had to pick up devices taken away from their children. Administrators said the punishment wasn’t effective enough.
“In order to make sure cellphones aren’t a distraction at a secondary level, we needed consequences that have more teeth,” Superintendent Dr. Eric Wright said during a school board meeting Monday night.
Board president Merideth Keller said the move is meant to combat students’ increasing reliance on digital devices.
“This is an addiction,” Keller told KVUE. “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.'”
According to KXAN, the school district says any money collected from the fines will be donated to local charitable causes.
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