After VA Tech Tragedy. . .Pol says reexamine cell ban in schools

Weeks after the massacre at Virginia Tech University, one Queens City Councilmember plans to renew the debate about whether to allow city school students to carry cell phones.
“There is no question it’s time to revisit the issue and see if there is any movement on the part of the Department of Education (DOE),” City Councilmember David Weprin, who is chair of the Finance Committee, told The Queens Courier.
Weprin, along with a number of other councilmembers, criticized Mayor Michael Bloomberg and School Chancellor Joel Klein’s initiative last year that prohibited students from bringing cell phones inside public schools.
In light of the Virginia Tech massacre, where a lone gunman killed 32 students and teachers before killing himself, schools around the country are revisiting their emergency policies and determining what role technology can play in those plans.
“It highlights the importance of parents being able to communicate with their children,” Weprin said.
However, a spokesperson for the DOE, said it has no plans to review or change its policy on cell phones in schools.
Already, officials at a number of City University of New York (CUNY) schools including a number of Queens-based colleges and universities have already begun looking into implementing a text-message system that would alert students on their cell phones about emergency situations.
Weprin said he plans to continue to talk about the issue and hopes to engage in dialogue with officials opposed to reviewing the plans.