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North Middlesex high school leaders propose near‑daytime ban on student cell phones
Summary
High school administrators asked the policy subcommittee to draft a rule requiring students to keep cell phones and earbuds locked in lockers during the school day, citing inconsistent enforcement and a staff survey in which about "83% of the staff" favored a ban; the committee asked administration to bring a draft at the June 16 meeting.
The North Middlesex Regional School District policy subcommittee on May 19 agreed that high school administrators should draft a proposed student device policy that would require students to keep cell phones and earbuds locked in their lockers during the school day.
Brad, a high‑school administrator who spoke for the high school, said the school surveyed staff and that "about 83% of the staff feels as though there should be an outright ban and the students should be putting these in their lockers." He told the subcommittee that enforcement is inconsistent across classrooms and that a clear locker requirement would make expectations easier to enforce.
The move comes after administrators said current allowances — phones out during lunch and passing times — continue to create problems. Brad said the school would not initially propose banning smartwatches, calling them hard to police, and suggested the district focus on phones, earbuds and camera‑enabled devices used to cheat during tests. "The only other piece that we really need to look at adding would be AI or camera enabled smart glasses," he said, noting those devices pose rapid new risks.
Members also discussed 'Yonder' locking bags, a commercial product several speakers noted is available and has a version that the vendor says disables signals. A staff member noted there is "a grant out of the attorney general's office right now," and said the bags would be expensive without outside funding. Committee members raised practical enforcement concerns — students finding workarounds, carrying decoy phones, or leaving devices in vehicles — and suggested any bag program should be optional and only pursued if funding is secured.
The subcommittee asked Brad, district administrators and school staff (Jeremy and Laurie were named in the discussion) to draft a proposed policy and bring it to the June 16 policy meeting for review. The committee did not vote on a final text; it instructed administration to prepare language that would prioritize locker storage while outlining handbook consequences for violations.
Next step: administration will draft a policy for the subcommittee to review at the next meeting on June 16.
