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Portsmouth School Committee advances student cell‑phone restrictions in second reading
Summary
On April 8 the committee held a second reading of Policy JICJ, which would ban cell phone use during the school day at elementary and middle schools and require phones be secured during class at the high school with limited use at passing time and lunch; implementation is expected with the next school year and the committee plans to survey outcomes a year after adoption.
At its April 8 meeting the Portsmouth School Committee conducted a second reading of Policy JICJ, which would restrict student personal device use across the district.
Miss McDade, representing the Policy Subcommittee, summarized the version brought forward: "cell phones not allowed during the school day at elementary schools or middle school. And at high school, the cell phones would have to be secured in the classroom during class time. And then, there would be limited use allowed between classes and at lunchtime." The policy includes explicit exceptions for students who require device access under an IEP or 504 plan and for multilingual learners.
A committee member asked whether the policy leaves room for limited in‑class device use for academic purposes. Unidentified Speaker 8 said, "Last time we discussed this, there was some discussion of limited in classroom use, if it served an academic benefit. Does this policy, the way it's written, leave room for that?" Superintendent Kenworthy responded that the district intends to rely on Chromebooks and other classroom technology for instruction and that the high school will need preparation time: the policy is expected to be implemented with the start of the next school year so the high school community can adjust.
Committee members discussed whether to include an explicit implementation date in the policy language and agreed to note the adopted/implemented dates on the final read. The Policy Subcommittee also plans to re‑survey staff, parents and students about the policy a year after implementation to evaluate its effects.
The session was a second read; the transcript does not record a final adoption vote. Next steps are final committee action at the subsequent meeting and administrative implementation planning ahead of the next school year.
