logo
Belle Vernon Area School District implementing new cell phone policy

Belle Vernon Area School District implementing new cell phone policy

CBS News21-07-2025
The cell phone has integrated itself into our everyday lives. Nationally and locally, there is a growing movement to limit distractions and keep cell phones out of students' hands while they are in the classroom.
In a unanimous vote last week by the Belle Vernon Board of Education, a new cell phone policy was established for Belle Vernon Area High School students for the upcoming school year.
The policy states that, "Students in grades 9-12 will be permitted to use their cell phones in the morning prior to the bell for homeroom. Students will also be permitted to access their electronic devices during their scheduled lunch period. The expectation for the remainder of the day is for all devices to be away, in a bag, and powered off."
"This proactive measure aims to minimize distractions that impact academic focus and behavior. By prioritizing a distraction-free learning environment, we are committed to fostering the best possible educational experience for all our students across our schools," said Belle Vernon School District Superintendent Dr. Timothy Glasspool in a statement.
Dr. Glasspool also told KDKA-TV that for K-8 students, nothing has changed. Those children are required to keep their phones off and out of sight throughout the school day if they are not leaving them at home.
The new policy for high schoolers, however, does lay out consequences for those who break the new rule.
A first offense will result in the phone being taken away until the end of the day and a warning being issued.
The second offense will see the phone being taken away, a second warning issued, and a phone call made to the parent or guardian.
The third offense will result in the phone being confiscated, the student given a consequence, and the parent or guardian left to pick up the phone from the school.
The school district warns that chronic offenders of this new policy may be required to turn their phones into the office before school and then pick them up at dismissal.
The school board says that while phones are away from students during the day, any parent wishing to reach their child can call the main office line.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

50 Cent Gloats As Trump Nixes Pardon For 'Half-Innocent' Diddy, For Now
50 Cent Gloats As Trump Nixes Pardon For 'Half-Innocent' Diddy, For Now

Yahoo

time23 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

50 Cent Gloats As Trump Nixes Pardon For 'Half-Innocent' Diddy, For Now

Donald Trump believes Sean 'Diddy' Combs is 'half-innocent' out of his sex-trafficking trial, but there will be no presidential pardon right now for the much-accused Grammy winner. And, just two days after Deadline exclusively reported that Trump was 'seriously considering' such a pardon and the White House played its cards close to the chest, Friday's no pardon stance makes Diddy foe 50 Cent very happy indeed. More from Deadline Sydney Sweeney American Eagle Ad Addressed By Clothing Company Amidst Partisan Uproar In Reaction To Dismal Jobs Report, Donald Trump Says He's Ordered Commissioner Of Labor Statistics To Be Fired Corporation For Public Broadcasting To Shut Down Operations After Loss Of Federal Funding 'Can you believe he thought he was getting pardoned,' the Power franchise EP and pro-Trump rapper posted on social media with an AI generated image late Friday after a still grievance fueled POTUS told Newsmax he wasn't inclined to grant Combs a get outta jail card. 'No Sir, you are not. You said very nasty things.' Yet, Trump being Trump, it could all change on a dime. Sticking it to federal prosecutors sweeping case, the eight-men and four-women jury just found Combs guilty of lesser charges of transportation to engage in prostitution on July 2. Though the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York now want self-declared swinger and domestic violence perpetrator Combs to continued to be denied getting out on a $50 million bond and be sentenced to several years behind bars on October 2, the reality is the not guilty decision on the harsh sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges was a serious blow for now fired lead prosecutor Maurene Comey and her team. Part of Trump's public and behind closed door dalliance with a Combs pardon is to stick a knife in the family of ex-FBI Director James Comey. The president also wants to punish what he views as an overreaching and too independent SDNY, sources tell me. Earlier Friday, months after Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson promised he would try to talk Trump out of any Combs pardon, the 'In Da Club' rapper posted a clip from the former Celebrity Apprentice host's sit-down with the fledgling conservative cable newswer where Trump agreed with reporter Rob Finnerty that any pardon for Diddy would 'more likely be a no.' Amidst a clemency campaign from Combs loyalists to the White House and those close to the transactional POTUS and Trump being Trump, the pardon 'no' tonight was qualified. Right after a discussion about a pardon for Jeffrey Epstein's newly cooperative confidant Ghislaine Maxwell, Finnerty asked: 'Sean 'Diddy' Combs. Would you consider pardoning him?' To which, a typically self-centered Trump replied: 'Well, he was essentially, I guess, sort of half innocent. Probably— I was very friendly with him but when I ran for office he was very hostile and it's hard. So, I don't know, it's more difficult.' Espousing ignorance one moment and then intimate knowledge the next about both Maxwell and Combs, Trump was just slightly less inclined towards the latter back in May when he was when asked about a pardon for the now convicted Bad Boy Records founder. 'I would certainly look at the facts if I think somebody was mistreated, whether they like me or don't like me,' Trump said on May 30 in the Oval Office just a couple of weeks after Combs' eventually eight-week long and often horrifically depraved trial began. Since our story on Combs receiving a possible pardon, MAGA media standard-bearers such as Megyn Kelly have pleaded Trump not to give the one-time mogul a pass. 'MAGA is already upset over elites seeming to cover for each other,' the ex-Fox News host said on July 30. 'This would not help. GOP struggling (with) young female voters, most of whom will hate a Diddy pardon,' Kelly exclaimed in a pretty convincing argument that also served as a warning shot to the transactional and media thin skinned Trump Staring at a maximum of 20 years for the prostitution charges he was found guilty of, Combs remains at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center. Diddy has been at the often criticized facility since his arrest last September in a NYC hotel. Trying to quell a MAGA uprising over the withholding of the promised files on the vile Epstein, who died in custody in 2019, Trump has been letting loose even more of a barrage of distractions that usual to direct attention away from his well-known relationship with convicted and well-connected sex offender Epstein and what the files may say about him. To that, just days after being granted immunity in a two-day conversation with a top DOJ official, the 20-year sentenced Maxwell was suddenly moved out of federal prison in Florida to a low-security prison camp in Texas. Maxwell, Combs …nothing to see here. Best of Deadline 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Emmys, Oscars, Grammys & More

California man arrested for allegedly sending money to ISIS
California man arrested for allegedly sending money to ISIS

CNN

time25 minutes ago

  • CNN

California man arrested for allegedly sending money to ISIS

National security Terrorism Federal agenciesFacebookTweetLink Follow The FBI arrested on Friday a man in Long Beach, California, for allegedly sending money to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a designated foreign terrorist organization, according to the Department of Justice. Mark Lorenzo Villanueva, 28, a permanent US resident originally from the Philippines, faces up to 20 years in federal prison for attempting to provide material support to ISIS, the Justice Department said in a statement. Investigators said Villanueva was in communication with two individuals who identified themselves as ISIS fighters via social media earlier this year. In those messages, Villanueva allegedly expressed his desire to support ISIS and offered to send money to aid the group's activities. 'It's an honor to fight and die for our faith. It's the best way to go to heaven.' Villanueva allegedly wrote to the ISIS fighters. 'Someday soon, I'll be joining.' Over a five-month period, Villanueva sent 12 payments totaling $1,615 to two intermediaries who accessed the money overseas, according to Western Union records cited by the DOJ. During his arrest, the FBI recovered what appeared to be a bomb from his bedroom, according to photos posted on the FBI's Facebook and X accounts. 'Mr. Villanueva is alleged to have financially supported and pledged his allegiance to a terror group that targets the United States and our interests around the world,' said Patrick Grandy, the Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office. Earlier this year, a 19-year-old former member of the Michigan Army National Guard was arrested after he allegedly attempted to carry out a plan to conduct a mass shooting at a US military base in Michigan on behalf of ISIS. Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said was arrested on the scheduled day of the attack, after he visited an area near the military base and launched a drone in support of the attack plan, according to the Justice Department. He allegedly planned to attack the Army's Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command, which is located in a Detroit suburb and manages the Army's supply chain for tanks. Prosecutors say he offered to help undercover law enforcement officers carry out the attack by training them to use firearms and make Molotov cocktails and by providing armor-piercing ammunitions and magazines for the attack. Said was charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and with distributing information related to a destructive device.

California man arrested for allegedly sending money to ISIS
California man arrested for allegedly sending money to ISIS

CNN

time26 minutes ago

  • CNN

California man arrested for allegedly sending money to ISIS

The FBI arrested on Friday a man in Long Beach, California, for allegedly sending money to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a designated foreign terrorist organization, according to the Department of Justice. Mark Lorenzo Villanueva, 28, a permanent US resident originally from the Philippines, faces up to 20 years in federal prison for attempting to provide material support to ISIS, the Justice Department said in a statement. Investigators said Villanueva was in communication with two individuals who identified themselves as ISIS fighters via social media earlier this year. In those messages, Villanueva allegedly expressed his desire to support ISIS and offered to send money to aid the group's activities. 'It's an honor to fight and die for our faith. It's the best way to go to heaven.' Villanueva allegedly wrote to the ISIS fighters. 'Someday soon, I'll be joining.' Over a five-month period, Villanueva sent 12 payments totaling $1,615 to two intermediaries who accessed the money overseas, according to Western Union records cited by the DOJ. During his arrest, the FBI recovered what appeared to be a bomb from his bedroom, according to photos posted on the FBI's Facebook and X accounts. 'Mr. Villanueva is alleged to have financially supported and pledged his allegiance to a terror group that targets the United States and our interests around the world,' said Patrick Grandy, the Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office. Earlier this year, a 19-year-old former member of the Michigan Army National Guard was arrested after he allegedly attempted to carry out a plan to conduct a mass shooting at a US military base in Michigan on behalf of ISIS. Ammar Abdulmajid-Mohamed Said was arrested on the scheduled day of the attack, after he visited an area near the military base and launched a drone in support of the attack plan, according to the Justice Department. He allegedly planned to attack the Army's Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command, which is located in a Detroit suburb and manages the Army's supply chain for tanks. Prosecutors say he offered to help undercover law enforcement officers carry out the attack by training them to use firearms and make Molotov cocktails and by providing armor-piercing ammunitions and magazines for the attack. Said was charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and with distributing information related to a destructive device.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store