BURTON (WWJ) - Atherton Community Schools have completely banned cell phones from their junior/senior high schools as part of new security measures after students received threats of violence through AirDrop on more than one occasion, officials said.
The ban on personal communication devices — involving cell phones, smart phones and smart watches — was announced by District Superintendent John Ploof on Friday, Nov. 11 in a letter to parents, WJRT reported.
It will be enforced starting Monday, Nov. 14.
The school board approved the new policy Thursday evening in an effort to stop recent school threats that were sent to students at Atherton Junior Senior High School in the Flint-area using the AirDrop feature beginning Oct. 25, prompting the district to cancel classes for three days from Oct. 26-28.
A weeks later, students received two more threats on AirDrop on Thursday, Nov. 3.
Ploof said the new policy came at the recommendation of Burton Police Chief Brian Ross, who also consulted with the FBI.
"This new policy will hopefully bring an end to a student's ability to use social media to send messages threatening school violence and improve our educational environment," Ploof wrote in a letter to the district Friday.
Officials said they will confiscate any personal communication device brought to school and any students caught with unapproved devices could face disciplinary action up to expulsion.
Any parent who needs to contact their children during the school day were told to call the school office and students were invited to use phones in the office to call their parents if needed.
The cell phone ban cover the hours of 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. Ploof said student athletes will be granted permission to use their phones during afterschool activities under supervision from a coach.
The first disruption on Oct. 25 came one day after parents exploded at the Atherton Board of Education over newly announced sexual assault charges against band and choir teacher, Jerry Cutting, for an alleged sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student, WJRT reported.
Class was cancelled at Atherton Junior Senior High School for the remainder of that week as officials enacted new security measures, which included installing metal detectors and employing armed security guards on the property.
Classes resumed on Oct. 31, but a few days later on Nov. 3, students received yet another pair of threats on Airdrop, which contained a list of names targets for violence.
Even though police were present at the school during the time the Nov. 3messages were sent, Ploof said it still "brought fear and terror in both students and parents," and many parents pulled their children out of class and kept them home on Friday.