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Mashpee board debates stricter cell‑phone rules, refers policy to subcommittee while asking for data and student input
Summary
After a lengthy exchange, committee members agreed to keep the existing district handbook policy in force while referring potential cell‑phone changes to the policy subcommittee, requesting prior-year infraction data, teacher and student input, and presenting a timeframe to revisit changes in October.
Committee member Kelly urged a districtwide ban on personal electronic devices during school hours and proposed classroom storage pouches, saying phones are "detrimental to students' learning." Supporters of a stricter ban noted Sandwich’s recent policy as a model; Kelly described pouch systems and stepped sanctions in that district.
Several members and administrators cautioned that a purely punitive approach risks displacing problematic behavior outside school hours and that the district should pair any device restriction with digital‑citizenship instruction, behavioral supports, and reliable enforcement procedures. Dr. Thompson and others urged collecting hard data on last year’s infractions and using student and teacher feedback to gauge whether the current practice is showing measurable improvement under new leadership.
High‑school principal Bonnie Brady said the building implemented practices and pouches last year and asked for time under the new leadership team to let the practice stabilize. Interim Superintendent Mary Kate and Ashley (finance/operations) recommended routing any substantive policy changes through the policy subcommittee and involving the student advisory group; committee members backed that approach and asked that at least one student representative and teacher liaison be engaged in the subcommittee’s September/October work.
The committee also reviewed the consolidated district parent/student handbook; two minor items (language on chronic absenteeism/credit and an accident‑insurance clarification) were unresolved and will be updated after DESIE guidance and finance follow‑up. The board stated the current handbook language remains in effect until formal revision.
Next steps: policy subcommittee to review the cell‑phone policy (with student and teacher input), staff to deliver prior‑year cell‑phone infraction data and any electronic records available, and the full committee to discuss initial subcommittee recommendations at an October meeting (tentatively Oct. 9).
