Murdock, Caldwell support cell phone bans at schools

A bill to ban cell phone usage by students attending schools across the state is poised to become law during the regular session of the 95th General Assembly. The bill would require every school district in the state to create a policy banning student use of cell phones and other personal electronic devices in schools during instruction time. Each school district would be required to create a policy and place it on the district’s website. Sen. Reginald Murdock, D- Marianna, who was one of several sponsors of the bill, and Sen. Ronald Caldwell, R-Wynne, each support the move recommended by Gov. Sarah Sanders. “I absolutely support the bell- to-bell ban and was one of the co- sponsors of that bill,” said Murdock. “Cell phones in general, and other devices such as that, have been a distraction. None of the superintendents or school personnel I’ve spoken with have disagreed. Matter of fact, Lee County has been ahead of it by trying to stop the disruptions being brought into the classrooms during the school day.” Caldwell said that although he supports the original bill, he realized there may need for some modifications after hearing from constituents. “Some problems have arisen regarding some of the students being able to use AI apps on their cell phones and some are asking for an exemption for that for school use, so I plan to go back through the bill to see if they can go back and put that in,” said Caldwell. “It’s not unusual that you write a bill with good intent and something shows up affecting areas you didn’t anticipate. This would be only for specific issues at specific times to use in addition to the computer or laptop, to do school work itself.” Caldwell said the original bill may have progressed too far in the Senate and House to be amended, but it is possible to write a different bill to make the amendment. “We have kids now, especially in the Delta, where we’re graduating kids who don’t read at grade level because they’re spending too much time on their phones,” said Caldwell. “We have got to get the kids back to paying attention while they’re in class and get to where we have some uniformity and consistency.” Murdock and Caldwell disagree on the passage of Senate Bill 3 in regard to making affirmative action unconstitutional. “We’re putting it into Arkansas law to go along with what the Supreme Court ruled,” explained Caldwell. “Discrimination laws are still there and in place. It says anyone, whether they’re black or white, male or female, straight or gay, will have the same right to opportunities or jobs provided they qualify for it. “Affirmative action allowed schools to admit students with lower grades or lower performance because of some of those issues. If you fit into a certain category you got special treatment,” Caldwell continued. “Some students sued, the Supreme Court ruled and we codified that so you can’t set unnecessary standards.” He said veterans would be handled differently. “You can give extra consideration to someone who contributed to the defense of our country, but you can’t do it based on gender and race. This puts everyone on an equal playing field,” said Caldwell. Murdock voted against Senate Bill 3. “It has taken our state and country many years to make progress in that area and we’ve made strides since the 60s civil rights era,” said Murdock. “This legislation took us back on the basis of minorities. Affirmative policies were necessary because people were not treating other people in a civil manner. The government got involved to secure inclusion so everyone would have a chance at the American dream. In Arkansas we’re removing preferential treatment which makes no sense. I was absolutely, strongly against that bill.” He continued, “Specifically, Senate Bill 3 is the most egregious piece of legislation passed through in my 15 years in Little Rock and for what it means for the state of Arkansas. I have no idea how that makes sense.” The legislation passed through the House with area State Representatives Lincoln Barnett and Mark McElroy voting against it and Rep. Steve Hollowell voting for it. Murdock said he is opposed to one more bill involving education, called the Baby Olivia Act, which would require each public school district and open-enrollment public charter school to incorporate a human growth and development discussion into existing health and safety courses beginning in fifth grade. The bill would require students to watch a video showing the brain, hearth, sex organs and other vital organs in early fetal development. “I hope we can stop that in the Senate,” said Murdock. “It deals along the lines of abortion and the pro-life movement and wanting to show graphic videos to young people as early as fifth grade, which makes no sense.” Bills regarding information school districts will be required to publish on their websites and laws requiring districts to allow the public an opportunity to speak at board meetings are also being considered during this session. Senate Bill 89 requires districts to make information such as financial data reports, local and state revenue sources, administrator and teacher salary benefit expenditures, legal balances and building fund balances available on each school’s website. The bill also requires districts to post agendas of regular meetings of the board no later than 24 hours prior to each regular meeting and no later than two hours before a special or emergency meeting. The names and email addresses of all members of the school board, including respective positions if zoned and terms of office of the members of the school board, would also be required on the websites. “This is more of a transparency type of bill that I think most districts already do in some shape, form or fashion,” said Murdock. Senate Bill 90 would require each district to allow members of the public to speak at each board meeting prior to the board considering regular business or meeting in executive session. According to the legislation, the board could not require prior approval for a member of the public to speak to the board, although the board may utilize a sign-up sheet prior to the start of the meeting for those wanting to make comments at the meeting. “Most of the districts I represent in my four counties already have some sort of process for people to speak at meetings,” said Murdock. The Forrest City School District does not allow those attending board meetings to make comments without being on the board’s agenda. He said both of these bills are headed to the education committee, which is among the nine committees in the Legislature. Caldwell said there are still several pieces of legislation that has either been filed or will be filed. “During a normal session, we have as many as 2,000 bills filed. Some never make it out of committees. There are still a lot out there that are going to come up and we’ll see what happens with those,” Caldwell said. One bill he did sponsor this session that has been approved is the merger of East Arkansas Community College into the University of Arkansas System. Although both boards had approved the merger, it needed legislative approval to become final. “They needed the Legislature’s approval to transfer funds and do all of that. It was a vote of support for what the two boards had already done,” said Caldwell. “Dr (Cathie) Cline has done a good job at EACC so why wouldn’t the University not want to pick that up?” He said another piece of legislation would try to limit the number of windmills in the state and how high they can be. “Some think they will cause the duck migration to change, but there is no evidence to support that. The windmill companies here in Wynne have been very supportive of the community,” said Caldwell. Murdock said there have also been several bills filed relating to the election process, making it harder for people to participate in elections and harder to participate in democracy. “There are about six bills egregiously filed,” he said. “There is a lot of stuff that will be coming down the pipe and we’ll be fighting against it the best we can.”

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