Call waiting
No cell phones allowed in school this fall

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Bill Donovan
Independent correspondent

GALLUP — Students returning to school in the Gallup-McKinley School District this fall will be returning to the Stone Age — or at least the days before the existence of cell phones.

The school board Monday approved new policies that will prohibit the use of cell phones during school hours. Failure to abide by the rules could mean having your cell phone put in a school vault for the remainder of the semester.

Diane DiPaolo, director of the district’s counseling program, said the new policies were drafted after secondary school principals began complaining of the widespread abuse of cell phones by students in many of the schools.

“The cell phones are not only disruptive but they also pose a danger to the students,” she said.

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