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Biddeford staff report early boost from cell‑phone policy; committee targets outreach to boost multilingual students’ athletics
Summary
Staff reported early positive results after introducing a cell‑phone collection policy, and the committee discussed outreach—translated brochures, transportation, and interpreter options—to raise multilingual (ML) student participation in athletics after staff presented data showing lower engagement.
Biddeford staff told the school committee on Sept. 11 that an early rollout of a cell‑phone collection policy has produced largely positive reactions from teachers, parents and students, and committee members discussed targeted steps to lift multilingual student participation in extracurriculars.
Martha Jakes reported that an internal survey of staff reached about 70% response and that teachers described improved student engagement in the first weeks after implementing the "cell‑phone cottages." She described anecdotal examples, including a ninth grader who returned to eligibility for athletics and reported immediate academic improvement. Martha cautioned this may be a honeymoon period but said staff are aligned on consistent enforcement and that principals will continue to communicate with families.
Later in the meeting Chris presented a memo on multilingual student participation in athletics, reporting that multilingual students are roughly three times less likely to be engaged in after‑school athletics. He attributed lower participation to late registration (many families arrived after preseason), housing and transportation constraints, cultural expectations for older siblings to provide childcare, and equipment or fee costs.
Chris proposed several outreach steps: create a translatable, season‑by‑season brochure from the welcome center; add information for families at intake; and review participation each season to measure progress. Committee members suggested options including partnering with community groups (Running Passion, local rotary), mapping where new families live to inform transportation solutions, encouraging parent/older‑sibling assistant roles (possible stipend discussion), and using low‑cost translation tools and LanguageLine for communication in many languages. Scott, the middle‑school principal, clarified that the district has not been cutting middle‑school teams and that the district has added teams or extra rosters when needed.
No formal motions accompanied the cell‑phone update or the athletics presentation; committee members asked staff for follow‑up reports by season, building participation breakdowns, and a plan to incorporate translated outreach in the welcome center materials.
