Plano ISD "Legalizes" Ham Radio Programs (August 20, 2003)
By James Aldeman, KF5WT
The Big Project just got a big boost in Plano public schools.
On August 20th, Plano ISD the school board enacted a policy change to allow for educationally related Amateur Radio programs, and other technology-based learning programs, which were previously prohibited.
The policy change means that the 50,000 students of the Plano ISD will be free to form school-based ham radio clubs at any of the district's 63 campuses. Teachers will also be free to utilize Amateur Radio in classroom studies.
The policy change was developed by a committee of Principals in response to safety concerns expressed by parents. Hams from the Plano Amateur Radio Club lobbied to insure that ham radio programs would be allowed under the new policy.
HISTORY
Under the district's old policy, all Plano ISD students were prohibited from possessing any type of RF device on school property, and even at remote nighttime events such as out-of-town football games. The old policy was originally enacted in 1995, reportedly to reduce drug trafficking on school campuses.
Although the old policy was originally intended to prohibit the possession of common numerical pagers (which some drug dealers reportedly used), it was so broadly written--and contained such harsh penalties--that it effectively banned Amateur Radio programs and clubs. Over the years, the policy was interpreted to ban cell phones also.
The old policy also ordered all district employees to seize on sight any RF device they spotted. Parents were required to pay a $15 "administrative fee" to get the device back.
A tiny piece of minutia buried deep in the Texas Education Code (Section 37.082) gives all Texas public schools sweeping authority to ban students from possessing any kind of RF device, and to penalize student violators any way they see fit. The law further defines a banned device as any wireless telecommunications device that vibrates, emits a sound, displays a message, or in any way delivers a communication to the possessor. There is no exemption in the law for Amateur Radio, or any other educationally beneficial RF device.
Practically all schools exercise that legal "banning right" to some degree. Many reach far outside the schoolhouse doors to ban possession of RF devices during night, weekend, and out-of-town gatherings--and even while students are traveling to and from those gatherings in privately owned cars. Today, some schools even consider possession of an RF device as serious an offense as possession of drugs, guns, or bombs!
PARENTS & HAMS SPEAK UP
Because of safety concerns recently voiced by worried parents; the district began this summer considering whether to relax their all-inclusive and far-reaching policy. Many parents had already been secretly outfitting their children with concealed cell phones for emergency use.
A district committee looking into the issue suggested that the new policy should simply prohibit students from "using telecommunications devices while on school property during academic hours". It was believed that this change would increase student safety, which still preventing distractions in the classroom, and do so at no cost to the taxpayers.
When the district began considering the policy change, members of the Plano Amateur Radio club wasted no time in lobbying for a special provision to insure that Amateur Radio programs would be protected. The policy, which was finally adopted by the board, only applies to "personal telecommunications devices"--not bona fide learning tools--and further only applies during academic instruction time.
District officials said that Amateur Radio, being a federally licensed radio service, was in an entirely different league from common consumer-grade personal telecom devices. Further, officials said that school-based clubs, by definition, meet only during non-academic break periods, such as lunch periods. The new policy would have no adverse impact on bona fide Amateur Radio programs, and Principals would be empowered to deal with any disruption which might arise as a result of any RF device, ham radio or otherwise.
AREA TRENDS
Although a few north Texas school districts have somewhat relaxed their RF device policies in the past couple of years due to safety concerns; Plano is believed to be the first district where local hams have directly affected such a policy change. Carrollton-Farmer's Branch ISD is currently studying a similar policy change. Allen ISD relaxed their total ban last year, and now only restricts use during the school day, with educationally beneficial uses of RF devices approved on a case-by-case basis.
The League has recently learned that the banning of RF devices is a common trend in Texas public schools, and is an impediment to the goal of establishing active ham radio programs in every school. A report recently submitted to North Texas Section leaders documents the magnitude of the problem in north Texas. The 250-page report included a lengthy analysis of RF device policies in place at every school district in the seven-county area encompassing the greater metro area. The results of the report were staggering:
Over 800,000 public school students live in the north Texas area, and three out of four of them are prohibited from having a ham radio (or other RF device) at school. Half of those are further prohibited from having one at off-campus locations during nights and weekends if the student is doing something "school related".
Schools are routinely using policy to artificially create thousands of "wireless blackout zones" and "ham radio free zones" around any activity remotely associated with school, regardless of time or place. This trend doesn't just stifle school-based ham radio programs. These zones are more dangerous than the "normal every-day world" because the ability to summon help in a timely manner--either by cell phone or ham radio--has been regulated out of the environment.
The report documents how such policies constitute a clear danger to students. It details how several kidnapping attempts, and the rape of two schoolgirls, all occurred near schools with far-reaching RF device bans. These schools all posted bans on the internet, presumably as a means of informing parents about school policies. Apparently, parents aren't the only ones these days who are researching where the "wireless blackout zones" are.
LEAGUE TAKES ACTION
A task force is presently being organized to combat these harmful policies in the North Texas Section. This committee will assist clubs in educating local school officials about the educational merits of Amateur Radio.
On the state level, local League officials are currently lobbying some state lawmakers who have been supportive of Amateur Radio in the past. It's hoped that within the next few months some type of statewide provision allowing ham radio programs in schools will be enacted.
More information to follow as this issue develops.
