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Portland school board delays first reading of phone policy, schedules community engagement through late May
Summary
Board members and public speakers discussed a proposed phone-free policy and agreed to delay the first board-level reading until May 20 to expand community engagement; the district posted multiple listening sessions and a June 10 referendum date was noted.
Chair Lentz opened public comment and several residents urged the Portland Board of Public Education to preserve the current timeline on a proposed student cell phone policy and to begin community conversations from a ‘‘clean slate.’’
David Burke, a Portland resident and longtime teacher, told the board, “I’m here for phone free schools,” and urged the district to keep the policy process on its current schedule so schools would have time to implement any change. Gary Gurney, another parent speaker, said he supported a ban and added, “I’m just here to support that.”
The remarks came during the public comment period; no vote on policy language took place. Chair Lentz and district staff said the board decided not to take a first read on the policy at the May 6 meeting so the district could hold more public sessions and gather implementation input before a vote.
The district posted a schedule of community sessions for the phone policy: an in-person session at Deering High School on May 8, a virtual session on May 7 (6–7 p.m.), an in-person meeting at Portland High School on May 15 (6–7 p.m.), a session at Casco Bay High School on May 27 (6–7 p.m.), and a meeting at King Middle School on May 28 (5:30–7 p.m.). Board materials and announcements also noted a June 10 public referendum date on the broader budget that the board asked the public to track.
Board and staff comments at the meeting emphasized seeking broad student, family and teacher input and spending time on implementation details if the district moves toward stricter phone limits. Student representatives attended school-level conversations and provided feedback to board members, and the superintendent and staff said the May listening sessions are intended to both educate the public on the policy’s development so far and to gather advice on implementation and guidelines.
No formal motion to adopt policy language or to change the district’s policy code was taken May 6. The next board-level first reading was scheduled for May 20, per announcements at the meeting.
The board’s discussion and the public comments show the district is prioritizing additional outreach before a vote; no final policy action was recorded at the May 6 meeting.
