School board bans cellphone to students from airdropping threats of violence

A Michigan school board has banned smartphones starting Monday in its junior-senior high school to stop students from continuing to airdrop threats of violence.

Students are also "strictly prohibited" from possessing smartwatches, normal cell phones or "other web-enabled devices of any type" on the premises of Atherton Junior/Senior High School, Superintendent John Ploof said on Friday in a letter to parents.

The FBI and the Burton Police Department recommended for the Burton-based board of education to ban the "possession and use of personal communication devices" at the school, Ploof said. 

The board voted late last week to ban the phones after Atherton schools closed for several days in October over threats that were airdropped, or transferred wirelessly between devices. Schools reopened several days later after hiring armed security guards and installing metal detectors, the local ABC affiliate reported.

The school's policy will be enforced from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and phones can be used under the supervision of a coach.