Schools Adopt District-Wide Electronics Policy – The Belmont Voice

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Following weeks of student outcry over proposed classroom cell phone restrictions — which some feared could create tension between students and educators — the School Committee officially adopted Belmont’s first district-wide electronics policy during its May 5 meeting.
After voting down the first version of the policy 4-2, the committee unanimously passed the second version, which instructed school leaders to adhere to the electronics policies already outlined in their handbooks for their schools.
The discussion leading up to the vote — spanning back a year since the work on the policy began — included debate over “bell-to-bell” bans on cell phones, especially at Belmont High School (BHS), and questions over how the policy would interact with decisions being made on Beacon Hill.
“The School Committee has been engaged with school leaders for a while in trying to understand how to best support students in a time of rapidly evolving change with access to electronic devices,” School Committee member Matthew Kraft, who chaired the subcommittee charged with developing the policy, told The Voice.
BHS has had a cell phone policy since last year, which requires students to place their phones in cell phone holders at the start of every class. The policy was developed as the school was “getting to a critical point” where cell phone distraction was becoming overwhelming, High School Principal Isaac Taylor said at the time. Now, with the recent passage of state legislation that could bar phones from schools altogether, Belmont is taking steps to ensure uniformity across classrooms.
Concerns over too much or too little restriction dominated the May meeting.
“I think that ambiguity is bad for students. I don’t think anyone disagrees that cell phones create a strong mental pull on all of us to check them and can disrupt students’ attention,” Kraft said.
The first version would have prohibited students from using or having “cell phones or other personal electronic devices in their possession while in class,” with an exception for students on Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), 504 Plans, or health plans, provided the accommodation is documented. The first version also noted, “On rare occasions, teachers and building administrators in 9-12 grade may use their professional discretion to permit students to use cell phones and personal electronic devices for educational purposes.”
Possession of devices was defined in the policy as “on a student’s person or within their immediate access, including backpacks, bags, and clothing.”
The second version doesn’t explicitly prohibit students from possessing devices while in school. Rather, it prohibits “student use of cell phones or other personal electronic devices while in class,” noting that devices must be stored in “specific approved locations” described in the school handbook.
Students, including Student Representatives Andrew Ge and Yuanheng Mao, liaisons to the School Committee, worried a change in policy could mean a disruption of trust between teachers and students and said the vast majority of classes in Belmont High School remain device-free.
In a survey sent to students in late April, 73.2% of participants said a “bell-to-bell” cell phone ban would significantly worsen their personal learning experience. In the same survey, 67.5% of students said the handbook policy had a “reasonable amount of restriction.” The current policy was first instituted last year.
“I think actually a lot of students really like the fact that now class is more engaging and people are talking more,” Mao said.
Jimbo Kenneally, a junior, admitted that he saw cell phone distractions during his first year at BHS, when there was no device policy at all. While he said it took some time for students to adjust, distractions overall had been reduced, and some even noticed benefits.
“It built better relationships between teachers and students, because phones became less and less of a problem in the classroom,” Kenneally said.
Students said that while the current policy reduces cell phone use during class, the level of enforcement differs by classroom. Some teachers used the “cell phone hotels” or “Yondr pouches,” a collection of pouches usually placed at the front of the room for students to put their phones in, prior to taking attendance. Others didn’t mind if the phones were kept in the students’ bags, as long as they weren’t taken out during class.
“[This policy] allows us to have some sort of freedom; it’s our own choice to turn in our phone, it’s our own choice to be engaged,” said sophomore Antony Qirko. “It’s a system that’s continuously working.”
The adoption of a district-wide policy partially stems from movement in the state legislature. Last month, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a bill that would bar children under 14 from social media and require a “bell-to-bell” ban in schools. The state Senate passed a similar bill last year that banned cell phone use in schools.
While the bill was sent back to the Senate for consideration, school districts across the state are grappling with how to craft policies, knowing that change could come at any time. In Belmont, the policy is an opportunity for school leaders to restrict and monitor device use in a way that best serves their students.
“I’m glad this is a decision of the local and I will actually be disappointed if the state weighs in on this, because I think districts are different, students are different, students have different needs in different districts, [and] different concerns of their families, so I think that these are important conversations to be actually having at a local level,” said School Committee Chair Meghan Moriarty at the May 5 meeting. “I’m glad that we are able to do that right now, [but I’m] not sure what will happen after the state weighs in.”
Adopting the second version of the policy will not affect current classroom operations across the district. While some committee members favored a stricter policy, others worried that without educator input, the restrictions would only burden those expected to enforce them.
“I would like to know what our educators would prefer. That’s information I would like to have before making a change,” Moriarty said. She added that she would be supportive of a stricter policy if the push for change came at the request of educators.
The School Committee sent both policy versions to the Belmont Education Association, but had not yet received feedback at the time of the vote.
“I think limiting cell phone use is good, but I don’t think I want anything that approaches either in theory or practice a bell-to-bell ban,” said School Committee member Amy Zuccarello. “And I also don’t think we need to fix a problem that we don’t seem to have.”
Shealagh Sullivan is a member of The Belmont Voice staff. Shealagh can be contacted at ssullivan@belmontvoice.org.
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