As school districts consider phone lockups, here’s how it works during emergencies in Marietta

MARIETTA, Ga. — Several metro Atlanta school districts are making students lock their cell phones in pouches before class.

Now, Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell went to the Marietta School District, where a lockup policy is already in place, to see how it works during an emergency like the tragic school shooting in Barrow County earlier this week.

The Marietta School District rolled out their new middle school cellphone policy this school year, where students have to keep their phones in a locked pouch to cut down on distractions in the classroom.

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The new policy is still going through its adjustment period, where students have to lock their phones in pouches before the school day starts.

During the school shooting at Apalachee High School in Barrow County on Wednesday morning, students were texting their parents that their school was on lockdown. That type of emergency is causing concern for some parents in Marietta in the wake of the tragedy where four people were killed and nine others injured.

“As a parent, I feel like I would want to make sure my kid is safe however that happens so it’s whether the teacher texts me or my kids text me,” Marietta parent Abby Pye told Newell.

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Marietta Schools Superintendent Dr. Grant Rivera explained how those policies would play out during an emergency.

Every teacher at Marietta City Schools has a magnet to unlock cellphones quickly during emergencies, but only if it is safe to do so, Rivera explained to Channel 2 Action News.

“In the event of an emergency you make sure your students and yourself are safe first, you also then have access when it is safe to to unlock phones,” Rivera said.

Rivera said Marietta is the only district in the state that gives every teacher a magnet for the pouches.

“We will give them access to their phones,” Rivera said. “We have gone to great lengths so every adult can unlock phones fast but I would never want someone in any situation to unlock a phone when they really need to be locking a door.”

While the Marietta Police Department isn’t involved in the school district’s phone policy, Newell spoke to the department information officer, Chuck McPhilamy, about cellphone use during an active shooter situation.

“It becomes a distraction and it creates volumes and noises that could alert the shooter to our presence,” McPhilamy said.

Police said even if a phone is on vibrate it could still alert a shooter to a person’s location, depending on how quiet it is in a classroom. They told Channel 2 Action News that it’s best for students and teachers to focus on their safety.

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