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South Carolina is one step closer to banning cell phones in public schools after the state Board of Education gave initial approval Aug. 13 to a “model policy” that would apply to K-12 schools throughout the state.
The board’s action was in response to a 2024 state budget amendment requiring schools to prohibit the use of “personal electronic communication devices by students” during the class day.
Under the model policy as drafted:
- All internet-connected electronic devices – cell phones, smart watches, tablets, gaming devices and more – must be secured in a locker, backpack or other school-designated location from first to last bell. Schools can also ban the devices from campus.
- Students with certain medical conditions and those who serve as first responders are exempt.
- Students who violate the policy will be subject to “progressive consequences … and disciplinary enforcement procedures.”
In an accompanying background document, the S.C. Department of Education (SCDE) offered three rationales for the policy:
- Social science studies linking smart-phone use with poor academic performance and teen mental-health issues;
- A survey of 9,000 S.C. teachers showing strong support for a statewide ban; and
- Recent moves by other states to prohibit the technology.
SCDE spokesman Jason Raven told Statehouse Report the department is “thankful” the ban is moving forward.
“Research and feedback show that the widespread use of smartphones in schools has created serious academic, mental health, and safety challenges,” Raven said in a Thursday statement. “All South Carolina students deserve to flourish in a learning environment free of constant digital distractions.”
Board members are expected to give final approval to the policy in September, with local district implementation required by January 2025.
$38 million in unclaimed funds returned
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The state of South Carolina has returned more than $38 million in unclaimed property to residents over the past year, according to a Friday news release from state Treasurer Curtis Loftis.
“I continue to be humbled by the calls and letters of gratitude I receive from people who have found money they didn’t know belonged to them,” Loftis said. “That’s why I am so passionate about encouraging people to check their names on our website to claim what rightfully belongs to them.”
The Treasurer’s Office says it has returned $365 million since 2011, with almost $1 billion still waiting to be claimed. The money comes into the treasurer’s custody when businesses are unable to find the rightful owners of property in their possession.
“I really needed some new tires for the car but didn’t have the cash to afford them,” one Anderson County resident told the Treasurer’s Office after receiving the funds. “I put it in God’s hands, and he answered my prayers.”
In other recent news
State working to fix broken mental health system. South Carolina is more than two years into an aggressive plan to spend more than $200 million to partially repair a fragmented public and private mental health system that some say lacks innovative policies and programs and consistent oversight and accountability.
S.C. is buying more than 200 flooded homes. A state-run program is in various stages of buying nearly 200 repeatedly flooded homes across six South Carolina communities. The effort comes in the wake of four hurricane-related disasters over four years.
Advocates celebrate S.C. law banning prosecution of trafficking victims. A wide-ranging public safety law that started out as a proposal to help victims of human trafficking was celebrated Thursday by advocates who had been working on its various sections for years. The law actually took effect July 2 with Gov. Henry McMaster’s signature. On Thursday, he ceremoniously signed it again.
SCDOR offers tax extensions due to Hurricane Debby. Several state tax returns and payments that would have been due between August 4, 2024 and Feb. 3, 2025 are all now due Feb. 3.
SCDOT asks for public input on the future of S.C. roads. The South Carolina Department of Transportation is asking the public to participate in a multimodal transportation survey before it closes on Sept. 6.
Authorities execute search warrant on state rep’s home. Federal agents on Monday executed a search warrant at the house belonging to State Rep. R.J. May III in Lexington County. Authorities would neither confirm nor deny they were investigating him. No charges have been filed.
State lawmaker says he was threatened with gun. S.C. Rep. J.A. Moore said he was threatened Tuesday with a gun during a parking dispute during which he was pulling into a parking spot to pick up his daughter in North Charleston.
State Supreme Court to hear Murdaugh’s jury tampering appeal. The S.C. Supreme Court says it will hear an appeal of two murder convictions of former lawyer Alex Murdaugh related to whether the jury was “tainted” by Colleton County’s clerk of court during the original trial.
Ban on paying workers less than minimum wage now in effect in S.C. Until only recently, some workers in South Carolina were being paid as little as five cents per hour — and it was legal.