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Concord committee pares back draft phone-policy, moves discipline rules to school handbooks
Summary
The Concord School District Communication & Policy Committee reviewed a draft for Policy 542.1 on unauthorized communication devices, removed an extracurricular/co‑curricular ban recommended by the NH School Board Association, and directed administrators to keep disciplinary specifics in school handbooks while adding a definition of 'school day' and an emergency-use exception.
The Communication & Policy Committee of the Concord School District met Sept. 17 to review a draft of Policy 542.1, a new policy addressing student use of personal communication devices during the school day. The committee heard that the draft draws from the New Hampshire School Board Association model and the governor's/Department of Education technical advisory and that the district has begun implementing related guidelines at the high school.
The presenter summarized the draft's purpose as supporting student achievement and reducing classroom distractions and said the DOE "has asked for all districts to provide copies of their policies once they're written," a requirement the district staff is preparing to meet. Committee members pressed on scope and enforceability: several said the policy should focus on device use during instructional time rather than expand categorical prohibitions into extracurricular settings or private spaces without clearer statutory direction.
Chair Karen Meeker framed the committee's authority: "We are empowered to draft a policy that fits for our district, period," and members agreed to several concrete edits. The committee voted informally to remove language that would have broadly prohibited personal-device use during extracurricular and co‑curricular activities and to replace lengthy, step‑by‑step disciplinary text with a short policy statement referring readers to each school's handbook for enforcement procedures. The committee also asked staff to add a clear definition of "school day" (start of instructional time through dismissal, including lunch, passing times, study halls and recess) to the definitions section.
On enforcement and handling, the draft recommends that personal devices be stored powered off in lockers or bags and that the district not assume liability for loss, damage or theft of personal devices stored at school. Members debated practical enforcement (how staff would verify devices are powered off, how smart watches are handled) and whether liability language is defensible if a school is negligent. The presenter said administrators are tracking approved exceptions case‑by‑case in a central spreadsheet and that medical, IEP/504 and multilingual-learner exceptions would be retained.
The committee kept a short emergency-use exception in the draft: "In the case of an emergency, staff may approve the use of personal communication devices," language members said should remain under the exceptions section to ensure staff can authorize device use during lockdowns or other safety incidents.
Next steps: district staff will produce a revised draft that removes the extracurricular prohibition, moves procedural disciplinary language to handbooks, adds the school-day definition and keeps the emergency exception; staff also will circulate source documents and proposed edits to committee members ahead of the next meeting for formal first reading.
