The Lake County Board of Education voted on Nov. 19 to adopt a district wireless-communications policy that tightens rules on student cell-phone use and clarifies staff social-media behavior.

Board members discussed three TSBA-drafted policy options and debated disciplinary steps for repeated phone violations, removal of district logos from personal pages, and whether staff should be 'friends' or 'followers' with current students. The director said language should discourage staff-student social links unless parents grant permission and recommended creating a parent consent form for staff to maintain certain social connections.

Under the adopted language, staff are "strongly discouraged" from adding current students as friends/followers on personal social accounts unless a parent provides written permission; the board asked staff to add explicit coverage for texting/messaging and to clarify usage of logos and official-sounding pages. Board members also reaffirmed progressive discipline for students who repeatedly violate cell-phone rules.

Motion and vote: A board member (Vivian) moved to adopt the district 'use of wireless communications' policy; the motion was seconded and the board recorded voice votes in favor (voice/roll-call recorded during SEG 1293–1320). The meeting record shows the vote was carried and the policy will be incorporated into the district policy book after staff make the agreed clarifications.

Next steps: staff will prepare a parental-permission form for social-media connections, revise the draft to add texting/messaging and to omit the phrase 'without written permission' where appropriate, and bring the revised policy back for final placement in the district policy book.