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Smithfield school committee adopts revised cell-phone policy; consent agenda approved
Summary
The committee approved the district's revised cell-phone policy in a second reading (voice vote) and passed the consent agenda, which included minutes and bills; committee members clarified that state law permits student phone use and that storage 'pouches' are not legally required and are grant-funded for now.
At the meeting the Smithfield School Committee approved a revised district cell-phone policy on its second reading after brief discussion and a voice vote.
Speaker 5 summarized the change: the policy replaces the term "pouches" with the more flexible term "containers" and otherwise remains aligned with state law. Committee member (speaker 2) clarified that the state law allows cell-phone use and does not require any particular storage system; the district’s proposed containers are currently grant-funded, and future replacement costs would be included in the operating budget if needed.
The committee also voted to approve the consent agenda (approval of minutes from 05/21/2026 and regular bills totaling $176,845.73; direct checks $27,235.81 were also reported). A motion to approve the consent agenda was made (speaker 2), seconded (speaker 3), and carried on voice vote ('the ayes have it'). The meeting record shows voice tallies only; no roll-call vote or individual member tallies were recorded in the transcript.
What the committee said it will do next: staff indicated they will monitor implementation of the cell-phone policy, manage replacement costs through the operating budget over time, and report back if operational issues arise.
