Hillsborough School Board bans cell phone use

TAMPA -- Hillsborough County students will have to keep their cell phones out of sight, and presumably out of mind, or risk having them confiscated under a policy passed by the School Board Tuesday.

In a unanimous vote, the board declared: "If we see them, we take them,'' beginning the next school year. A cell phone that surfaces for calls or texting will be confiscated, and given back at the end of the day, officials said.

When an emergency arises, there's a telephone in the school office that parents and others can call, they said.

In other business, the board established a moratorium on travel until it can come up with difinitive guidelines.

-- Letitia Stein, Times Staff Writer