Pittsfield School Administrators Tasked With Cell Phone Intervention Plan
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — While the district has a straightforward cell phone policy, it has never had a set of uniform practices throughout the schools. The School Committee would like to change that.
On Wednesday the committee requested that Superintendent Joseph Curtis review the existing policy and bring it back in August with added regulations.
Chair William Cameron, who motioned for the request, said he is not looking to change the rule because it is clear. In Pittsfield Public Schools, devices are to be turned off and not used during the instructional day or a school-sponsored activity or program.
Cameron would like supporting regulations for more effective enforcement before the start of the next school year.
"We need to be able to deal with that so that the classes are orderly environments, there aren't constant distractions, and the kids can learn what we are trying to teach them," he said.
Curtis reported that district administrators already have this on their radar. The following day, they are leading a session to begin the conversation about an intervention plan for cell phone use to complement the policy.
"I just want to be clear that we've never tried a set of uniform practices throughout our district. That has never been tried," he said.
"And so kind of what has happened in the past in different places, I don't want to make blanket statements, is that there has been individual classroom discussion, a building has decided how to address it and then, because I would assume there is no consistency among schools, the messages started to break down and practices started to break down."
A couple of weeks ago, teachers came to the committee in droves to speak about how cell phone use is out of control. They cited issues with excessive phone use disrupting education, social and emotional health, and safety.
Earlier this year, the panel made a recommendation to revisit the policy and the Social Emotional Learning and School Safety subcommittee discussed gathering input on responsible cell-phone usage from principals, teachers, and students for a policy review.
Community members were asked to bring their perspectives on the issue to Wednesday's meeting but there were no speakers during public comment. It was reported that few written communications were received.
Sara Hathaway said she is "very sympathetic" to the teachers who stood before them, adding that she does not believe teachers should be spending their time policing the use of cell phones.
"It's just insane that we spend this amount of time creating a good school system and we let it get undermined by TikTok," she said.
"It's just insane to waste all of this effort."
It was pointed out that this needs to be a cooperative effort between students, teachers and parents.
Curtis said some teachers make cell-phone exceptions and that some parents attempt to communicate with their children through the devices during instruction times.
There had been some discussion about the use of Yondr pouches to lock phones during the school day. It was pointed out that there can be various workarounds to the pouches and some committee members said they would consider a simple collection bin in classrooms during instruction times.
Members also expressed that they would not like to see students suspended for violations of the phone policy because it is counterproductive.
Dr. Vicki Smith, a pediatrician, said schools are generally a place where students are expected to comply and that rules are best enforced when teachers have a good relationship with their students.
"Can we create something that comes from the students and not from the top down?" she asked.
Curtis said that if a well-publicized intervention plan is developed the district will first entrust students to self-regulate.
"We're hoping as we welcome all of our students back that we're very clear with all of our students and all of our families that these are the steps that will be taken. This is a districtwide set of expectations," he said.
"It's enforced by School Committee policy and if your child is not taking it out during class, then probably the expectations won't even bear to any effect but if they are, this is the response that not only our elected officials support, but all of our school leaders and all our classroom teachers. So there is a real power in making that statement a unified statement."
It was reported that the use of metal detector wands is also being considered. Administrators would like to entrust students with self-regulation first and develop a tiered response for those who do not comply with expectations set forth by the district.
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