Willow South superintendent tells House Education bill to curb student cellphones has "been a resounding success"

Willow South Superintendent Ryan Herdy told the Vermont House Education Committee on May 2, 2025, that the supervisory union’s policy banning student cellphones during school hours “has been a resounding success,” citing improved academic performance, reduced bullying and higher teacher retention.

Herdy said the policy, implemented this school year across the union’s middle and high schools, requires students to keep personal cellphones in lockers or in another secured location chosen by school principals. He told lawmakers the district combined the restriction with other efforts and surveyed staff and families before and after implementation.

Herdy said staff-reported benefits include “increased student engagement, reduced incidence of hazing, harassment, and bullying, high levels of employee retention and satisfaction, more socialization and decreased student anxiety, less power struggles, and more focus on teaching and learning.” He also relayed a teacher’s reaction: the policy helped her “love her job again”…