The Catasauqua High School cell phone policy will undergo a major change next academic year.

At last month's Catasauqua Area School School Board meeting, the board discussed changing the current policy. At issue was the school keeping a student's device for more than one day after a first infraction. During the November 2013 meeting, Cindy Weiss of Catasauqua, the mother of a high school student, cited safety concerns as a reason for returning a student's device the same day.

As the cell phone policy currently stands, if a student is found in possession of a celll phone during the school day, the school will confiscate the device for five days. The student will also receive after school suspension. The change, which will take affect at the beginning of the 2014-15 year, will permit a parent at the end of the school day to pick up the cell phone. Similar to the current policy, the student will also receive after school suspension.

Board member Dawn Berrigan asked if it was feasible to implement the policy immediately rather than wait until next academic year.

CHS Principal David Ascani said he feels the policy should not change until the fall school year begins.

"I really feel, in the sense of fairness, they [students] began the school year with what was in the policy," he said.

Board Vice President Carol Cunningham concurred with Ascani.

"I don't feel it's in the best interest to the students for us to make the changes midstream," she said.

While Berrigan agreed such a change is major, she stressed the necessity of implementing the new policy immediately.

Berrigan made a motion to enact the new policy immediately. Her motion failed 3-3. Voting in opposition were board members Mary Alice Hartranft, Don Panto and Cunningham.

Panto commented the policy could undergo additional changes as the board is currently considering implementing "one to one technology," which would provide every student with a laptop to access in school and out of school class assignments. Students with smart phone technology might also be able to access class information via cell phone devices.

"This is a touchy subject with cell phones," Ascani said. "Who knows what can come up."

In other business, the board agreed to further discuss the possibility of implementing a district wide uniform dress code and what such a dress code might look like at next month's meeting.