EASTHAMPTON — As students returned to in-person learning after a lengthy period of isolation last year, teachers and administrators saw an increase in cellphone use at Easthampton High school, a development that prompted the School Committee last week to tighten up its cellphone use policy during class.
In a unanimous vote Tuesday, the committee approved adding a line to the electronic devices policy in the student handbook that will require a student to turn over their cellphone in a designated area if a student uses their phone during class.
Principal William Evans told committee members that the new rule is an effort to curb that behavior and refocus student energy on learning. Each teacher has been provided with a set of 30 cellphone pouches that they can hang on the wall in their classroom, said Evans.
“If a student brings out their cellphone during a lesson, during an unauthorized time, (a teacher) would then request the student to put their cellphone in a pouch. And that’s all, there’s no discipline involved,” Evans said. “It’s just put it in the pouch until the end of class and then you can have it back. No being sent to the office. No parent contact.”
If a student refuses to comply, they will be sent to the main office for discipline that will progress based on the number of offenses.
For the first offense, students will receive a verbal warning and their parent or guardian will be notified. Discipline also involves what Evans’ described as a “restorative process” with a reflection sheet that will allow a student to talk about, think about, and write about the choices they made and how and why they made those choices.
For a second offense, students will receive a 30-minute after-school detention that will be administered by the main office or a teacher and includes a restorative process. Parents or guardians will also be notified. A third offense will have similar consequences, but increase the after-school detention to 60 minutes.
“After the third offense, we’re now bringing parents or caregivers into the building. We’re sitting down with them talking with them the student, we’re talking about this problem. … We’re trying to come up with different solutions such as maybe the cellphone stays home, maybe the cell phone stays in the office all day,” he said.
School Committee Chair Cynthia Kwiecinski, who is also a teacher, commended the policy addition and how consequences for violating the policy were laid out.
“I know for some parents, they love having their kids have their cellphones with them at all times. But I can say as a teacher, that the last year where we were not as strict with cellphones because we were trying to do all this healing with our students. But cellphones really played havoc with kids’ education,” she said.
School Committee member Laurie Garcia, who is also a teacher, echoed Kwiecinski’s sentiments, adding that she wishes the district that she teaches would adopt a similar policy.
Member Benjamin Hersey was also in agreement with the policy but said he wished there was more of a collaborative opportunity for students to weigh in on this discussion. He supports the restorative element in the policy, he did want to get away from the punitive approach.
Evans said that an email about the new procedure went out to parents and guardians and students last week, and all students will view a presentation that explains the new rules.
“So the message to the families and to the students is we understand that this is an integral part of your life. Yet, overuse of it becomes an obstacle to you being able to achieve your educational goals, your professional goals, your personal goals, whatever it is,” he said.
Kwiecinski also noted that there are other school districts that are completely taking cellphone access away from students throughout the entire day. In August, the Springfield School Committee unanimously approved implementing a new program that requires students to lock phones in pouches all day long.
“This is a much much tinier response than some school committees are going for,” she said. “Really what you’re doing is you’re making a clear message to students that it’s time to put your cellphone away and get to learning and there will be many opportunities to be able to use your cellphone. So I find this far more gentle and acceptable for students.”
Emily Thurlow can be reached at ethurlow@gazettenet.com.
