VIENNA — The Maries R-1 School Board adopted a few amendments to the high school handbook at its Sept. 25 meeting.

Vienna High School Principal Tim Metcalf said he had started fresh with the cellphone policy. The school will continue to ban cellphone use during school hours or in locker rooms. Metcalf changed the wording of the policy to include any electronic device.

The main change to the cellphone policy is that the school will no longer keep phones overnight. Under the previous policy, a first violation of the cellphone policy would result in 48-hour confiscation or two after-school detentions if a parent picked up the phone. A second violation would result in week-long confiscation or two days of in-school suspension if a parent picked up the phone. A third violation would result in a semester-long confiscation or one day of suspension if a parent picked up the phone.

Under the new policy, a first-time violation results in confiscation until the end of the day. A second violation will result in confiscation for the day. They must turn their phone into the office for two days. The school will also contact the student’s parents, and the student will receive one day of in-school suspension. A third violation would give the student three days of in-school suspension and five days of giving the device to the office. Any more offenses would result in a one-day suspension and a requirement for the student to turn over the device to the office for the rest of the semester.

Metcalf also suggested a change to the tobacco and nicotine policy. The previous policy said a student found using tobacco or nicotine products on school premises or at a school activity would face a suspension between three and five days.

The new policy makes discipline for tobacco or nicotine products clearer. A first offense results in a three-day suspension. A second offense gets a five-day suspension. A third offense gets a 10-day suspension.

Metcalf said in his previous experience, students were willing to risk using tobacco or nicotine products at school when the punishment was only in-school suspension.

“This is something they have to think about,” Metcalf said. “They make a choice. It’s not an impulse behavior. A student doing that three times knows what they’re getting into. Plus, it’s illegal.”

“The parents when we’ve had these situations this year and in the past are very supportive,” Special Education Director Joe Edwards said. “Everyone that we’ve dealt with, the parents are oblivious that their kid is doing it. So it gives them three days to work that out.”

Board member Dave Garro asked if the policy includes any kind of tobacco and nicotine education program.

Metcalf said he had thought about adding a restorative program to the policy, but he would need to look into what options are available.

The last amendment was to the tardy policy. Metcalf said he removed the part of the policy that said three tardies counted as an absence. He also suggested resetting tardies every quarter instead of every semester. The last change was to switch the punishment for 10 or more tardies from suspension to Saturday school.

The board approved the suggested amendments to all three policies.