COVINGTON - Forty-seven school employees have been "forced" to give up their district cell phones to cut costs.

Let's try not to hate them.

Who doesn't secretly long for the old days, when cars were sanctuaries of silence and work problems couldn't stalk us? The Covington crew now has permission to be stuck in the Dark Ages. Poor them.

Their cell-less state was ordered this month by Superintendent Jack Moreland, who is struggling to meet lower revenue projections from Frankfort.

Previously, 71district employees had cell phones, most of which were distributed before Mr. Moreland's tenure. By cutting that number to 24 - 20 for bus drivers and the rest for school-safety people - the Covington district will save about $36,000 a year, Mr. Moreland says.

He's a self-proclaimed Crusty Old Guy who hasn't carried a cell since 1997, when a previous job required frequent travel.

"I don't feel like I've missed out," he tells me over his landline. "The number of times I've been interrupted in my meetings is dramatically lower."

I can practically hear the ol' dog smiling.

Personal solutions

To learn more about the cell-free diet, I tracked down Personnel Director Ken Ellis, whose phone was among the casualties.

Turns out he promptly bought a personal cell, paying $60 a month for 800 minutes.

"I had to," Mr. Ellis says. "It's almost like when you don't have your car. It's like a piece of you is missing."

Besides employment, he's in charge of bus transportation and building maintenance, which requires a lot of site visits. During downtime, he handles some work by cell.

His phone keeps him on top of bus accidents, maintenance emergencies and purchase requests, which must be closely scrutinized. He gets about 30 calls a day, he says.

I submit that all this connectivity does us more harm than good. Employees feel compelled to avoid making their own decisions. Cell phones enable micro-management.

Trying to wean himself from the habit is Covington's pupil personnel director, Lester Gamble. He carries a personal cell but hasn't widely distributed the number.

Giving up the company phone has been good and bad, he says.

He used to call parents on his cell, and they would end up with the number thanks to caller ID.

Staff members would call him about students who were truant, students who wanted to switch schools, students who needed bus access, students whose parents hadn't picked them up on time and so on.

Mr. Gamble encouraged this because he likes defusing problems early. But at the same time, there's something highly civilized about the occasional peace and quiet.

He used to get interrupted everywhere - at home, in truancy court....

"I know you're waiting on this, and it's true," Mr. Gamble says with a chuckle. "I've been in the bathroom and the cell phone goes off.

"And you know what's really sad? I answered it."

E-mail kgutierrez@enquirer.com or call (859) 578-5584.