Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds talked more about her proposal to ban cellphones in classrooms Tuesday following the annual turkey pardon ceremony at Terrace Hill..
The governor says she wants to add to what some districts are already doing. “First of all, I want to just give a lot of respect to the really large number of school districts that have already implemented the policies, that have listened to the parents, that have listened to the educators that are in the classroom,” she says.
Reynolds says she wants a policy that will blend in with what is already being done. “The stories that I’ve heard from the different school districts that have implemented are really encouraging. Parents are very, very supportive of this, and there’s been different variations. So whatever I put forward, I want to make sure that I’m respecting the hard work that’s already gone into place by the school districts that have stepped up and implemented it,” Reynolds says. “I want to supplement that and enhance that. I don’t want to really step on anything that they’ve done. So it’ll probably be more of a floor, is what we’re looking at, but just to encourage people to really move in that direction in time.”
Reynolds says some schools have gone bell to bell and restrict cellphone use all day, while others give them back to the kids to used during lunch. “And some of the stories I’m hearing is, even when they’ve let them use their phone during the lunchroom, the kids aren’t that. They really are starting to reconnect with the kids and doing and being kids, and that’s what they, you know, should be doing,” Reynolds says. “They should be learning while they’re in the classroom that should be where their full attention is at, and when they’re with the kids in the lunchroom or whatever, during the breaks, then talk. Let’s get back to communicating and having a conversation with each other. We’ve gotten so far away from that, I think that’s part of the problem.”
The governor was asked Tuesday about her decision to replace Adam Gregg who left in September.
“Soon, really soon. So it in the next couple of weeks, probably we’ll have a decision,” Reynolds says. Reynolds has been busy with the fall campaign, the Republican Governors Association, and a trade trip to India.
Reynolds says she has completed all of the interviews of candidates for the job, but isn’t going to say how many people she interviewed. Gregg resigned as lieutenant governor to take over as the leader of the Iowa Bankers Association. The president of the Iowa Senate is next in line of succession until a new lieutenant governor is named by Reynolds.