ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, Va. (ROCKTOWN NOW) – Rockingham County Public Schools will limit which flags and decor can be displayed, and student cell phone and personal electronics use will be prohibited starting this school year.
The county School Board voted unanimously – with Board member Jackie Lohr absent – to adopt those policies Tuesday night at their first meeting of the 2024-2025 academic year, almost a week before students return to the classroom. Both rules were introduced earlier this summer with the cell phone policy receiving widespread support from parents and teachers.
While an “off and away” policy was in place for all Rockingham County middle and elementary schools, the amended policy extends the rule to the high schools. Board member Sarah Horst said that, while the policy will not be popular with the students, she believes a cell phone-free school day will be in their best interest.
“Whether or not a student chooses to view this as such, my vote tonight is a gift,” Horst said. “It’s a gift of hours of cell phone-free time out of your day. I had that gift 25 years ago and I want it for my son, I want it for all of our children, and I want it for our teachers too. I think it’s going to make our academic environment so much more productive and better.”
The flag and decor policy, on the other hand, garnered a more mixed reception.
The policy prohibits the display of any flags other than those authorized by RCPS to be displayed on school property, which include flags related to the U.S., Virginia and other states, local government, the armed forces, public schools and sports teams.
The policy also allows flags of countries recognized by the U.S., albeit temporarily for school events, curriculum-related instruction, or in designated areas within schools and with size restrictions. It also mandates that the U.S. flag is to be displayed prominently in the entrance area of all school properties in Rockingham County.
Several people – most of whom were RCPS teachers – spoke against the flag policy during the public comment period at the beginning of the meeting. Courtney French, who teaches English language, told the board the policy conflicts with her duty as a teacher to make sure all students feel safe in the county’s schools.
“When you remove our ability to display our welcoming banners, you give the impression that not everyone is welcome here,” French said. “Is that the example that we want to teach our children?”
Chair Matt Cross responded to those concerns prior to the vote.
“I’m sad that we have to have a flag policy, because we live in such a generation that there are so many causes for,” Cross said. “I mean, every cause you can think of, has a flag attached to it.”
He added that while he respects all students in the county’s schools, the goal of the policy was to make sure the U.S. flag is the one primarily visible to all students.
“When our kids walk into our classes and into our schools, we want them to see, in our predominant places, the American flag,” Cross said. “Because it’s the American taxpayers that send all of our kids to school, who pay our teachers’ salaries, who have the heat on and the AC on and who provide the multimillion-dollar buildings inside of our community for all students to attend.”
It resembles a similar policy that was recently adopted by the Shenandoah County School Board.
