Hundreds of cell phone ban violations reported among Lexington County high schools

LEXINGTON COUNTY, S.C. (WIS) - Data obtained by WIS showed nearly 2,000 cell phone policy violations among Lexington County high schools in the last three months.

The statewide cell phone ban went into effect in January and requires students have their phones put away from the first bell to the last bell, creating a phone-free classroom.

Lexington County parents raised concerns over the policy.

One parent whose student is losing instructional time for violating the cell phone policy at Lexington School District Two told WIS staff in the school should follow the same rules.

“As an adult you try going eight hours without your cell phone,” said Gray.

Michelle Gray told WIS she is in favor of the cell phone ban, but only for the classroom. Gray is a mother of two and said she has mixed emotions on the ban. Her daughter, a senior at Airport High School won’t be going to school Wednesday because she’s violated the district’s policy four times according to Gray.

“She has already missed enough time with COVID and now they are going to give her out of school suspension over a cell phone. When she was in the hallway... I could see if she was in class, I could see if she was being disruptive but to give a student out of school suspension who is already falling behind, I think its ridiculous,” said Gray.

According to the Lexington School District Two cell phone policy, if Gray’s daughter receives a fifth violation, she could be banned from bringing her cell phone to school completely.

While each district is different, in Lexington One and Three students could face expulsion if they violate the policy too many times.

Just under a year ago, the State Department of Education issued a survey. Over 9,000 teachers responded. It showed 72% of high school teachers reported cellphones as a major distraction in the classroom.

Administrators said a cell phone free classroom is less distracting, causes less mid-class absenteeism along with fewer cases of cheating and stress among students.

“Its like a drug to them, and we have given that to them, to be a babysitter, to do their school work on, to do everything on and now we are just in the middle of the school year ripping that away from them”, said Gray.

Below is a list of violations for high schools in each of Lexington’s five school districts since January:

• Lexington school district one high schools: 1,128 violations not including March.
• Lexington school district two high schools: 412
• Lexington school district three high schools: 48
• Lexington school district four high schools: 42
• Lexington Richland school district five high schools: 100+
• Total: 1,888

A spokesperson with Lexington School District One told WIS the first week students returned back to the classroom from winter break was when its policy began.

Instead of handing out violations they gave warnings for that week.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson with Lexington Richland School District Five told WIS there isn’t a code of conduct section specifically for cell phone violations.

However, since January there have been 100 incidents of misuse of electronic communication and 11 incidents of Unauthorized Use of Device. There have been over 1,000 incidents of refusal to obey, but that include more offences than just the cellphone violation.

In a recent house government efficiency and legislative oversight committee, State Superintendent Ellen Weaver was asked for an update on the cell phone ban policy so far. She said she has recieved positive anecdotal feedback from teachers and students.

“I had a teacher email me the day after the policy went into effect in January, and she said this is the best day I have ever had in my classroom. Because I have not had to play cell phone police,” said Weaver.

A spokesperson with the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDOE) told WIS a survey will be released in April to teachers, administrators and possibly students to get feedback on the policy so far. Lexington Two released this statement:

“For Lexington Two, reinforcing the message about phones has been key – and when we say reinforcing, we mean with frequency. We try to communicate the message in a variety of different ways and to remind students that it’s the law, and there are consequences for violations. We created posters and flyers to post around campuses and to display electronically in public areas of schools. We use small student assemblies and one-on-one conversations. We use call-outs and our communications systems. We put occasional reminders on PA announcements to air during the school day. If there are class or club meetings, we might use the opportunity to mention it there. Violations have declined since we first implemented our new state-aligned policy on January 7, 2025, a trend we expect to see continue."

You can check out the policies for each school district below:

• Lexington County School District 1
• Lexington County School District 2
• Lexington County School District 3
• Lexington County School District 4
• Lexington/Richland County School District 5
• Richland County School District 1
• Richland County School District 2
• Sumter County School District
• Kershaw County School District 
• Clarendon County School District
• Lee County School District 
• Calhoun County School District 
• Orangeburg County School District 

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