During the spring State legislative session, a regulation was passed that requires public schools to adopt a wireless communication device policy that limits phone usage during instructional time. 

Blue Ridge Schools Superintendent Ryan Peyton explains that they already are setting a good expectation of what appropriate phone usage looks like in the district. He says that in both the junior high and high school, students do not have access to their phones during class time. 

Peyton indicates that in the first weeks of the school year, kids have done a great job of abiding by these rules. He feels that it has paid dividends when it comes to student attentiveness, and when the expectation has been set, it is easy for it to become second nature. 

The State-wide cell phone ban in schools is only one of many regulations that the State government has and will continue to create to encourage a better learning environment in schools. Peyton believes that more regulations will be coming down the pipeline regarding topics like Social Emotional Learning. 

SEL has become an integral part of education, and we'll have more with Peyton in the days ahead on Regional Radio on how they are implementing that in Blue Ridge Schools. In the meantime, learn more at blueridge18.org.