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Committee hears safety concerns as state guidance narrows student personal-device use
Summary
Committee members discussed a forthcoming state-guided policy limiting student use of personal devices and debated safety tradeoffs — including how to locate or contact students during emergencies — and possible storage solutions funded by a state grant.
The School Committee discussed a forthcoming policy restricting personal devices in school, flagging a tension between reducing classroom distractions and preserving a way to locate or communicate with students during emergencies.
The Superintendent said state guidance — and a related attorney general interpretation — is prompting districts to restrict personal devices during school hours and mentioned a state grant to help buy locked storage. "They're really big school... you obviously take cell phone from a kid. You better have some explanation for why you can't return that cell phone to that kid," the Superintendent said, describing practical implementation questions. He raised safety concerns if a student cannot use a device to signal their location during an emergency: "I would imagine people would be interested in exactly where that is and when that child is located." Committee members discussed options mentioned by other districts, including numbered pouches or lockers with magnetic releases that permit students to keep phones on their person but locked during the day.
No action was taken; the Superintendent asked members to review the draft policy when available and indicated it would be presented at a future meeting for formal consideration.
Provenance: Discussion of the forthcoming personal-device policy and related safety concerns appears in the superintendent's report and later in the discussion of future agenda items (topicintro SEG 663, topfinish SEG 796).
