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Committee reviews handbook changes including religious opt-out language and device rules
Summary
School leaders told the committee they will add language to all handbooks reflecting a recent Supreme Court ruling on religious-based curriculum opt-outs, and principals outlined tightened device, attendance and eligibility language across elementary, middle and high school handbooks.
Hopkinton school leaders told the committee Aug. 14 they will add standardized handbook language districtwide to reflect a recent Supreme Court decision and clarified several other handbook items including personal-device rules, attendance consequences and field-trip eligibility.
Why it matters: The handbook changes affect what curriculum parents can opt students out of, how and when students may use personal devices during the school day, and how excessive absences or tardies may affect eligibility for extracurricular activities and field trips.
Court ruling and handbook text: The superintendent said district attorneys worked with a statewide group of school lawyers to draft handbook language after “a recent Supreme Court ruling back on June 27, affirming that families have the right to request their children be excused from certain curriculum content based on sincerely held religious beliefs.” The district said the proposed text was developed with attorney Paige Tobin of Murphy, Lamorie & Murphy and attorneys from MASS and MASC and will be placed in all handbooks; the committee was notified that staff and administrators have already been briefed on the change.
Device and smartwatch rules: Elementary principals explained they will add an “off and away” personal-device expectation for younger students to align with middle- and high-school policies adopted earlier. Principals said language already required devices be kept in lockers and out of classrooms, but staff asked for clearer enforcement language. They noted the policy also targets smart watches and other wearables that can send text messages during instructional time.
Attendance, tardies and eligibility: High school administrators described revisions intended to give staff flexibility when addressing excessive tardies and absences. The handbook will no longer list a single prescriptive sanction (for example, an automatic detention at a fixed number of tardies) but will instead list possible consequences—restorative practices, structured days, detentions—and potential restrictions on extracurricular participation if attendance expectations are not met. The district added explicit language saying students with excessive absences or tardies may be ineligible for school-sponsored activities, field trips or athletics until the attendance issue is resolved. Administrators said those changes reflect feedback from parents and staff and are intended to allow more individualized responses.
Other edits and technical fixes: Principals also reported a range of minor edits: corrected links for arrival/dismissal maps, moving school resource officer contact information to the contact-information section (to avoid suggesting the officer is part of school administration), fixes to punctuation and wording, clarification of Nature’s Classroom ownership change (now Outdoor Classroom) for the middle school trip, and a clearer end-of-year obligation section notifying seniors that unpaid parking tickets and other outstanding charges must be cleared before receiving caps and gowns.
No vote on the new religious-exemption language was recorded at this meeting; the committee voted later in the same meeting to approve the handbooks as presented with a roll-call vote.
