SPECIAL REPORT
Cell Phone Usage in Buses In comparison to the school year,
which is typically 180 days long or a certain amount of classroom time, students who ride the school bus spend an average of 146 hours, or roughly 24 days on the school bus. According to Kajeet, a company that creates Wi-Fi hotspots on school
buses, the time on the school bus has become an opportunity for students to do their homework. Kajeet SmartBus solutions offer
Wi-Fi connections on school buses. But it filters out social media and streaming video to make student web experiences education-based limited to class research, homework
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and related apps. Kajeet stressed that school buses are an ideal place for students to do their homework. But Kajeet and other Wi-Fi hotspot
providers can’t block inappropri- ate content or track usage on cell phones or other devices because they use individual data plans rather than the school district network. Another potential benefit to stu-
dents having cell phones on their person in school buses is they can call their parents or dial 911 during emergency situations, as illustrated again recently with the fatal Appa- lachee High School schooting in Georgia. According to
Care.com, parents and students feel safer when they have their cell phones at hand. The LAUSD cell phone ban policy
still needs to be written, leaving the question open about school bus rides. “The district is still in the dis-
cussion and planning phase of the policy, so nothing has been finalized or determined,” LAUSD spokesman Britt Vaughn told STN. Florida was the first state to pass
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a cell phone ban last year. A repre- sentative of the Florida Department of Education did not respond to STN questions about the impact on school bus rides. But a House of Representatives fiscal note says the law authorizes local school boards to ban the devices on “school prop- erty.” That includes school buses. Ohio and Indiana have simi-
lar laws, but officials there did not respond to requests for comment. But Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) in Virginia, where Gov. Glen Youngkin signed a cell phone ban into law in July, did. Dan Adams, the public informa-
tion officer for LCPS, told STN that a cell phone ban policy is meant to strike a balance between embracing technology’s educational potential and minimizing disruptions. “By establishing clear guidelines for
when and how students can use their devices, LCPS aims to foster a pro- ductive academic environment while also nurturing responsible digital
32 School Transportation News • OCTOBER 2024
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