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School committee approves handbook and code-of-conduct updates; high school reports fewer classroom distractions under phone policy
Summary
The School Committee approved updated school handbooks and a unified code of conduct. Committee members discussed harassment definitions, restorative approaches, victim supports, incident tracking, and the high-school cell-phone policy, with administrators reporting teachers saw improved engagement after restrictions.
The Duxbury School Committee voted to approve updated school handbooks and a consolidated code of conduct across buildings, after discussion about harassment definitions, restorative practices, victim supports and incident-tracking metrics.
Administrators described edits that add definitions and expand language—for example clarifying race-related protections to include traits such as hair type—and revising harassment and retaliation language to align with updated model policies. The committee discussed whether some offenses currently classified in different severity categories should be more clearly tiered.
High-school administration reported on the school’s cell-phone rules and enforcement. The high-school principal said an informal poll of faculty showed roughly 87% of responding teachers said the phone policy increased student engagement; reported discipline data showed 78 phone-related conduct referrals through the 160th day of the school year, representing about 13% of the school’s conduct referrals. School leaders said the system relies on classroom-level warnings and teacher detention before class-level referral to the main office.
Committee members asked for clearer victim-support language in the handbook where severe harms are addressed and pressed administrators for details on how harassment incidents are recorded and reported to the district and the public. Administrators said incident response includes investigation to determine levels of responsibility, and that district handbooks and building-level guides will be clarified to highlight support for both alleged victims and students involved in incidents.
Minor edits flagged during the discussion included the removal of Jamboard from a list of third-party apps, as Jamboard has been deprecated. The committee approved the handbooks and code-of-conduct changes by voice vote after a motion and second; no member recorded opposition on the motion’s recorded “Aye.”
Staff said they will continue to revisit operational language to improve clarity on restorative practices, victim support, and consistent incident-tracking metrics for later public reporting.
