New Castle School Board looks into establishing cell phone policy

NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- The New Castle School Board is looking at adopting a policy to govern the use of cellular phones owned by the school district.
The proposed policy, discussed at the board's caucus Monday, would require anyone with a district-owned cell phone to agree to use the phone for school business only.
School officials said the superintendent, assistant superintendent, school administrators and the maintenance director carry school-owned cell phones. Also, if an individual uses one of the cell phones for personal reasons, he or she would be required to pay a surcharge.
The school board intends to vote on the adoption of the policy at its public meeting Wednesday.
Other matters
In other news, the district is considering adding a Spanish class at the junior high school and offering junior and senior high school students advanced science.
The district also has asked its athletic committee to review a request by the New Castle Knights, a semi-professional football team looking to use Taggart Stadium as its home field for the 2007 season.
The team is hoping to have an agreement in place to rent the field at Taggart Stadium from the school district in time for its first game, tentatively scheduled for June 17. Games would be played Saturdays, June through October. Team tryouts are marked for April 22.