Malden candidates back phone‑hotel policy with IEP exceptions and urge AI policy review

Candidates at the Malden forum discussed district phone policies, IEP exceptions for device access, and the need for an AI policy tailored to classroom use.

Mike Grummy, incumbent for Ward 1, described the district's existing phone-storage practice: "We started, I guess you could call them phone motels or whatever. Again, if you have a medical issue or anything like that, you're allowed to keep the phones with you." Grummy said the policy has been in place about two years and that medical exceptions and staff discretion are part of its application.

Keith Bernard said he supports restricted phone use while allowing flexibility for students with needs and noted that the IEP is a legal document that can permit device access: "I kind of struggled with that, initially having, you know, a grandchild that's on the spectrum with an IEP ... then you know we learned that the IEP is a legal document and so if it's written into the IEP he can of course have his cell phone, during the school." Bernard and other speakers described a policy balance: phones stored during class but permitted for medical or instructional reasons.

Speakers also said the district's technology subcommittee has begun discussions about artificial intelligence and that a policy specifying permitted and prohibited AI uses would likely come to committee review: "We've also been talking about, AI right now in the tech subcommittee because we need to see how do we go and set the policy for that... this is what we can use it for. This is what we can't use it for," Bernard said.

No district-wide change was enacted at the forum; candidates said policies are in place, noted IEP and medical exceptions and described forthcoming subcommittee work on AI.