Good Morning, David,
As a teacher who retired about three years ago, I have have mixed feelings about this.
For many years, I routinely had photo equipment with me at school, mostly because I was involved with the yearbook and had a very legitimate need for all kinds of photos, ranging from the standard, posed group shots to candids of students going about their normal school activities. I also had, of course, student photographers who occasionally used their cameras for similar purposes. I would hate to see the day when such routine photographic activity becomes restricted because of exaggerated paranoia.
At the same time, I was always aware that my photography had the potential to detract from the educational process. I always consulted my colleagues in advance about any intrusions into their classes and usually tried to work only in situations (lab, shop, PE, band, etc.) where some hustle and bustle was the norm. Since I was seen so frequently with camera in hand and an obvious purpose in mind, and since I didn't aim for any images which might be considered embarassing in any way, I suppose that some kind of mutual trust was present. I don't recall many student reactions which were even slightly negative; indeed, many students were clearly glad to think that their images might appear later in the yearbook.
Even so, I can certainly understand the position of a school which bans the use of cell phones with cameras or even cell phones in general. If I were back in the classroom today, I would certainly prohibit cell phones of any kind in my classes, even if the school did not. The damned things are disruptive! Teenagers can easily find enough distractions without having the ring of a cell phone in middle of class, much less the prospect of a student answering the thing and trying to have a private conversation when the class attention should be on the business at hand. A cell phone with photo capability would be even more objectionable in class, especially right now when its relative novelty would rate it as an attractive nuisance. (For those of you who are not educators, be aware that freshmen in a low-level class, for example, spend much time actively searching for things which will distract them from anything which resembles work.)
I also recall a recent article (The Wall Street Journal ???) which described the problem of students using multi-featured cell phones as a means of cheating during exams. Some professors are apparently now requiring that electronic devices be temporarily placed at the front of the room, away from their owners, during tests. Though mostly college students were cited in the article, but you can bet that high-schoolers won't be far behind.
I suppose that banning in-school use of photo cell phones at all times and in all circumstances might be a questionable policy, but properly-run schools have gradually and properly been able to reassert a reasonable level of authority over student behavior (after the disastrous decline caused by the "anything goes" idiots who popped up in the '70's). As a photographer, I resent the current paranoia over cameras and, especially, tripods(!) in public or semi-public places, but it seems to me that having an orderly learning environment in schools does take priority and that responsible schools may impose various restrictions in the interests of both student safety and effective education.
Now, about the fools who talk on cell phones while driving .. .
Konical