MINUTES OF THE meeting
of the
ASSEMBLY Subcommittee on Education
Seventy-Second Session
March 5, 2003
The Subcommittee on Educationwas called to order at 5:29 p.m., on Wednesday, March 5, 2003. Chairman Garn Mabey presided in Room 3143 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada and via simultaneous videoconference in Room 4406 of the Grant Sawyer State Office Building, Las Vegas, Nevada. Exhibit A is the Agenda. Exhibit B is the Guest List. All exhibits are available and on file at the Research Library of the Legislative Counsel Bureau.
SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:
Chairman Garn Mabey
Mrs. Sharron Angle
Mr. Jason Geddes
Mr. Bob McCleary
SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT:
None
GUEST LEGISLATORS PRESENT:
Assemblyman David Goldwater, District No. 10
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:
Carol Stonefield, Committee Policy Analyst
Linda Corbett, Committee Manager
Victoria Thompson, Committee Secretary
OTHERS PRESENT:
Melissa Myers, Student, Becker Middle School
Brittany Breeler, Student, Becker Middle School
Haley Lucas, Student, Becker Middle School
Karyn Wright, Legislative Representative, Clark County School District
Assembly Bill 138: Repeals prohibition against pupils carrying or possessing any electronic device used for paging or communication while on school grounds. (BDR 34-385)
Chairman Mabey requested the secretary call the roll; all Subcommittee members were present. He thanked the members for staying late and joked that he hoped they had cell phones to call their parents. He mentioned that Chairman Williams had requested that they form a subcommittee to see if there was some type of compromise that could be reached on Assembly Bill 138. He said if this section were repealed, it would leave a void in the Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS). He also reminded the Subcommittee that allowing the school boards to have local control was discussed at the February 24, 2003, Education Committee meeting. He then asked Mrs. Stonefield if she would summarize what was discussed on the bill during that meeting.
Mrs. Stonefield thanked the Chairman and indicated that she had prepared a summary (Exhibit C) for the members of the Subcommittee of the issues raised in the testimony before the Education Committee on February 24. She related that the bill was presented on behalf of the students at Becker Middle School by Assemblyman Goldwater; it was part of “Project Citizen,” and the students testified on February 24 that many of them carried cell phones at the request and approval of their parents, even though the NRS regulation made it illegal for the students to have any kind of cell phone, beeper, or other electronic communication device on the school grounds.
Mrs. Stonefield related that parents were concerned about school safety. She said the students testified that the current school policy for cell phones in the Clark County School District was that if a cell phone was used during the school day, the teacher had the authority to confiscate it, and parents were aware that they had to go to the principal’s office to recover the phone. The students also testified that, although there were payphones on campus, there were few of them, and there were often long lines of students waiting to use those phones. Also, the students were expected to be off campus within 15 minutes of the end of the school day. She said the students complained that the administrative offices would not deliver messages to students, as they had no way of confirming that the message was actually from the parents or guardians.
Mrs. Stonefield confirmed that there was some who expressed opposition to the bill, and that local authority was generally raised as one of the issues. She said those who opposed the bill suggested that students might misuse or abuse the right of the cell phones; there was concern that if the statute was repealed completely, the school districts might not have the legal means to control the use. She summarized A.B. 427 of the 67th Legislative Session, explaining that was the bill that caused the statute to be enacted. She revealed some of the concerns at the time: cell phones or beepers on school campuses would be very disruptive; those items were associated commonly with drug dealers, gang members and other criminals; teachers were concerned that they would be required to search students to confiscate cell phones or beepers; and school administration at that time felt that any necessary parent-child contact could be handled through the office. She observed that those opposed to A.B. 427 had concerns about students with medical problems and students that volunteered as firemen who needed immediate contact. There were others who felt the language might be too restrictive for local authority to control the devices.
Mrs. Stonefield also informed the Subcommittee that she had included in their packets samples of model legislation from other states that prohibited pagers and cell phones, as did Nevada, and statutes from states that authorized the local board to hold the policy-making authority. She articulated that most of the statutes that granted the authority to local boards suggested that the state have something on record which required that the local boards address the issue. That allowed the board to make it part of their discipline policy. She pointed out that some states had penalties for non-compliance, and others left the issue up to the local board. The examples she included encompassed a wide range of decisions, which gave the Subcommittee several models to consider.
Chairman Mabey asked for comments from the Subcommittee and recognized Assemblyman Geddes.
Mr. Geddes ascertained that, after reading through all the excerpts, he found that the Kentucky language, if adopted as written, would meet the desire and intent put forth by both the Washoe County School District amendments and the Clark County School District amendments. He added that he would like to see a motion for this provision, if it was agreeable to the Subcommittee.
Mr. Goldwater agreed, remarking that the Kentucky amendment was the one that was originally discussed with the students. He felt that, in addition to being practicable as the exercise was done under the auspices of “Project Citizen,” amending the bill would give the students a good lesson on the relationship between state government and its agencies.
Mr. Geddes moved to amend and do pass, replacing Section 2 with the section from the Kentucky Revised Statutes.
Assembly McCleary disagreed, stating that he did not think the Subcommittee was ready for a motion yet, and he did not hear the Chairman ask for a motion. He commented that he had no problem with the bill, either as presented or with an amendment. He would not mind even repealing the original bill that made the cellular phones and beepers illegal, because he felt that activity in the schoolroom should not be legislated. He pointed out that there was no legislation against chewing gum in school, or bringing in a CD player, or talking during instruction, and reminisced that when he was a student, the teacher enforced the rules in the classroom. He also reminded the Committee that the students were citizens with rights, so he saw the original bill as a bad one.
Mr. Goldwater announced that Mrs. Kannon’s middle school kids were in Las Vegas. He had been unable to communicate with them, and said it was the Chairman’s discretion as to whether he wanted to take comments.
Chairman Mabey determined he would take the students’ comments.
Melissa Myers stated that she agreed with Kentucky’s rules, and the students desired to work with the school district to make a policy. She remarked that she had other policies for review besides Kentucky’s, but Kentucky had the best one, and she read it to the Committee: “Every local board must adopt a policy concerning student possession or use of a personal telecommunications device while on school property, or while attending a school-sponsored or school-related activity on or off school grounds. This policy must be included in the district’s written standards of pupil conduct. Violators are subject to punishment as established by local board policy. Personal telecommunications device was defined as a device that emits an audible signal, vibrates, displays a message or otherwise summons or delivers a communication to the possessor, including, but not limited to, a paging device and a cellular telephone.” She reiterated that the students wanted their policy to be similar to the one she read, with input from the board.
Chairman Mabey reminded the students to state their full names, and he also requested that they fax the sign-in sheet from Las Vegas for the Committee Secretary.
Brittany Breeler, a student at Becker Middle School, said she thought that repealing the original law would be a good idea, and she totally agreed that classroom activities should not be legislated.
Chairman Mabey thanked Brittany for her comments, and asked if there were any questions from the Subcommittee or the students.
Haley Lucas, another student from Becker Middle School, asked what would happen if the law was repealed.
Chairman Mabey answered that he did not know.
Assemblywoman Angle stated that she believed she could answer Haley’s question. She reported that she sat on a school board, and what the board would do, if the law were repealed, would be to make a policy pertaining to those devices.
Mr. Geddes concurred that he also liked the Kentucky amendment. He noted that the students had mentioned in earlier testimony, as well as today, that they were in agreement with that amendment and would work with the school board towards a policy. He also related that, when the Washoe County School Board representative testified, they were concerned that there would be a vacuum created if they did not have legislative authority to create a policy. They had concerns, based upon previous experiences, that if the bill were repealed and not replaced, they would have trouble implementing policies in their district that regulated this sort of issue. By passing the bill with the amendment, Mr. Geddes felt that this would be giving the school districts enabling language that would help the districts form their own policy.
Chairman Mabey solicited other comments.
Assemblyman Bob McCleary reiterated that the original bill should be repealed, asserting that Mrs. Angle had agreed that the school would make a policy for cell phone usage whether or not the bill was passed today. He said he was not trying to create a problem, but he did not believe that every little thing involving the school districts should be legislated.
Mrs. Angle pointed out that there was a representative from the Clark County School District present, and she asked Karyn Wright, the representative, if she would address how the Clark County School District felt about having legislation on this issue.
Ms. Wright asserted that she gave the Subcommittee the amended language that the Clark County School District would like to see in the bill (Exhibit D). She commented that the amended language was very similar to the Kentucky language, so she felt that the district would be fine with the Kentucky language.
Mrs. Angle asked if that meant Ms. Wright would feel more comfortable if the legislation was stipulated in statute.
Ms. Wright responded affirmatively and said it would give the district the opportunity to make policy at the district level.
Chairman Mabey questioned how to proceed on the issue as a Subcommittee.
Mrs. Stonefield replied that the responsibility of the Subcommittee was to report back to the Education Committee, who would then take action. She explained that it was the pleasure of the Subcommittee to recommend an amendment to the bill, but the Subcommittee could not formally adopt the amendment.
Chairman Mabey then suggested that the Subcommittee entertain a recommendation.
Assemblyman Geddes asserted that if it was agreeable with the sponsor of the bill and the students in Las Vegas, he would recommend that the Kentucky amendment replace Section 2.
ASSEMBLYMAN GEDDES MOVED TO RECOMMEND THAT THE KENTUCKY AMENDMENT REPLACE SECTION 2 IN A.B. 138.
ASSEMBLYWOMAN ANGLE SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
Assemblyman Goldwater thanked Chairman Mabey, Traci Kannon, and the students at Becker Elementary School.
Chairman Mabey adjourned the meeting at 5:48 p.m.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
Victoria Thompson
Committee Secretary
APPROVED BY:
Assemblyman Wendell P. Williams, Chairman
DATE: