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Parents urge Darien School District to curb classroom screen use, ask for allow‑list and teacher training
Summary
Three Darien parents told the board on June 23 that removing phones did not solve classroom screen problems and urged the district to adopt an academic‑only Wi‑Fi allow list and invest in professional development so teachers use screens only when pedagogically necessary.
At the Darien School District Board of Education meeting on June 23, three parents pressed the board to move faster on curbing student screen time in classrooms and sought clearer data on what students access during the school day.
"Have we become too dependent on technology during the school day?" Mary Connell Lifton asked during public comment, saying parents report students watching streaming services during study halls, encountering inappropriate content and using devices to cheat. Lifton reminded the board that a previous community campaign successfully removed phones from schools, and she asked the district to share findings from its technology audit.
Kate Gregory, who said she works at NYU Stern, urged practical next steps this summer: implementing an "allow list" that limits student Wi‑Fi to academic sites and investing in professional development so teachers can reduce screen‑based instruction when it is not necessary. "Technology should be a tool, not the default," she said.
Brooke Levery, a Darien parent and local business owner, echoed the call for a recalibration of classroom technology. "From bell to bell, we entrust our children to you and we are asking for less tech and more teaching," Levery said, arguing that research and parental feedback favor more traditional, human‑centered instruction in many contexts.
Superintendent Dr. Burn acknowledged the concerns and reiterated that curriculum decisions rest with administration, but the board packet already identifies follow‑up: the administration plans to present a midyear technology update on Dec. 8 and is advancing a draft 2026–2031 strategic plan at a July retreat. Board members and the superintendent said staff will provide more detailed metrics from screen‑time and technology audits as part of those updates.
The public comments on screens came during the board's public comment period; the board did not take formal action on a technology policy that evening but noted both community concern and an appetite among some members for faster implementation than the district's previously described five‑year timeline.
Next steps: parents asked for transparent data on device usage and for concrete summer work on the allow‑list and teacher professional development; the administration confirmed it will return with more analysis and a technology update in December.
