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Date: 6/15/2023
EAST LONGMEADOW — The East Longmeadow School Committee discussed the creation of a cellphone policy for the middle school and high school levels.
Superintendent Gordon Smith shared the policies on cellphone usage from Chicopee Public Schools, Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District, Agawam Public Schools, Ludlow Public Schools and Springfield Public Schools. Smith said all have similar language prohibiting usage during classes but said some go further than others.
While none of the policies specifically speaks to the use of what Smith described as a “phone tree,” — a two-sided board containing numbered “pouches” in which students can store their phones while in class — several of the school departments have piloted programs this year using such devices as a best practice.
Smith said that the administration at the middle and high school levels would be amenable to piloting such a practice in the 2023-24 school year. It would be incumbent upon the teachers to set an expectation at the beginning of the year that all students store their phones at the beginning of class and retrieve them at the end, he said.
School Committee Chair Greg Thompson suggested smartwatches should be required to be stored as well. Smith said it would be easier to get the practice “off the ground” if phones were the only focus.
“You know exactly what’s going to happen. They’re all going to get a watch and they’re going to be doing what we don’t want them to do anyway,” Thompson said.
School Committee member Aimee Dalenta said, “We need the buy-in from teachers” and asking them to police student watches is “a heavy lift.” She suggested collecting data “several months in” to see if students have circumvented the phone practice by using their smartwatches.
School Committee member Elizabeth Marsian-Boucher said the directive must “come from the top down,” but Dalenta said teachers are more likely to enforce it if they are “part of the conversation.”
Thompson insisted, “Only if we’re lax, is it hard. If it’s cut and dry — ‘Your phone goes in that pocket or you’re not coming into my room,’ — then it’s easy.”
School Committee member Sarah Truoloio said Agawam is “very clear” in its policy about employee expectations and that their phone should be out of sight. She said the school department needs to be careful of sending mixed messages.
Smith said that he would draft a pilot with feedback from administrators, to be voted on at the next School Committee meeting.
As it was the last meeting before the committee reorganizes, Marsian-Boucher, who did not run for reelection this term, was recognized for 12 years on the School Committee with a plaque. Thompson commented, “We certainly appreciated your honesty and your dedication to all the students of this district.”