WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee on Thursday voted to ban cell phones and other "student-owned technology devices" in the district's three schools starting in September.

 

The committee responded quickly to enact a new district-wide policy after former Superintendent Jason McCandless this spring requested the change for the elementary schools and middle high schools.

 

The policy created with input from administrators, the buildings' School Councils and the Student Council at Mount Greylock prohibits students from having personal electronic devices in their possession from the start of classes in the morning until the final bell of the day.

 

At Mount Greylock or Lanesborough Elementary School, students may store such devices in their lockers. At Williamstown Elementary School, if a pupil absolutely needs a phone, smart watch, etc., at the end of the day, front office personnel will be able to hold the device during the school day, interim Superintendent Joseph Bergeron said.

 

Principals in all three schools can make exceptions under the policy for devices students need for educational or medical purposes — for example, a student whose continuous glucose monitor transmits data on their blood sugar through a smart phone. 

 

Bergeron and two members of the School Committee's Policy and Governance Subcommittee told their colleagues in a special, single-item meeting that feedback from the community has been largely positive to the idea of generally banning cell phones and other devices.

 

"The input we've received from parents and guardians, I believe, was 100 percent … in favor, which is pretty remarkable," Bergeron said. "On the student side, a lot have been in favor. Some have been … relieved that some of this burden will not be on them anymore.

 

"Some of the [student support] is with a reservation in that they're hesitant not to be in close touch with everyone all the time. Some students have expressed a desire to use their devices for academic purposes or to listen to music to drown out the sound of other people in the hallways. Those are areas we're trying to navigate through the Chromebooks we've issued. Or, in situations where those are not ideal, we want to hear that so we can upgrade or equitably bring different software."

 

Bergeron said some students did say they thought the policy would be an infringement on their independence.

 

Some students argued for a "tiered" approach where older students would access to their phones in the high school and argued that, particularly for juniors and seniors, it makes sense to teach students how to responsibly use technology as they prepare to enter the real world rather than deny them access to technology altogether.

 

"Our response has been that this is not meant to be punitive," Bergeron said. "This is meant to create environments where in-person interaction, in-person learning is paramount. … The other side of our response is if we were to have gradual changes dependent on age, that would put a dent in some of the key positive aspects of the policy. When no student has a device, the fear of missing out on things that your, for example, older peers are in on dissipates."

 

Most of the six School Committee members present at Thursday's meeting enthusiastically supported the new policy.

 

Ursula Maloy, while saying that her own children were against the idea, said the new policy is "long overdue."

 

"I think the kids will be relieved when it gets to this point and nobody has a phone in school, so it's not like you're the only one without your phone," Maloy said. "You get to just do your school thing and talk to your friends and talk to your teachers and not be constantly 'Snapping' or 'TikToking' or whatever else it is they do.

 

"I think they're actually going to like it."

 

Steven Miller asked the committee to commit to revisit the policy two or three months into the school year in case there were any unintended consequences that resulted from the change in the district. Bergeron agreed that he and Chair Christina Conry would add an agenda item for the November School Committee meeting for Bergeron to give a report on implementation of the policy.

 

Miller ultimately abstained in the 5-0-1 vote to adopt the new policy. Curtis Elfenbein did not attend the meeting.