HADLEY — No student at Hopkins Academy will be allowed to use a cellphone during the school day, except in specific circumstances, under a new policy adopted by the Hadley School Committee.
Committee members on Aug. 25 voted unanimously to revise the 2025 Hopkins Academy Student Handbook so that students’ cellphones, along with texting-capable headphones and smartwatches, will be kept in their backpacks or lockers at all times from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Students who violate this policy by having these devices on their person will not be given a warning, and the devices will be taken away and kept at the main office for the duration of the academic day.
Three years after the committee opted against a proposal to buy Yondr pouches, where student cellphones would have been stored, members responded to concerns from teachers that such electronic devices are becoming increasingly disruptive to the learning environment and students’ mental health, even when they are only using them at breakfast, lunch, hallway passing times and bathroom breaks.
The policy, which began on the first day of school Aug. 27, also gets the school aligned with possible cellphone legislation being considered by Massachusetts legislators.
Cellphones, said art teacher Karen Sause, have become attached to students in unhealthy and unproductive ways, especially in the years following the pandemic.
“Their use is ubiquitous and unproductive, both in time, but in also how it creates an unnecessarily adversarial relationship between teachers and students, which is not in keeping with the district’s values,” Sause said.
“The faculty really finds this to be an important issue,” said English teacher Amy Lanham. “We desperately want to do our jobs and teach these students, and we want to do it in the best way possible, and the healthiest way possible, for our students.”
Hopkins Principal April Camuso said cellphone use has become one of the main code of conduct issues, accounting for 15% to 25% of all referrals, though this may actually underrepresent the problem because some teachers are reluctant to pursue discipline.
“For us, it’s a no-brainer to move forward (with the policy),” Camuso said.
Camuso said the policy ensures putting a stop to the main reasons students are using cellphones, which include playing games, texting friends and going on Snapchat and other social media sites.
The new policy requires parents to be notified upon a second violation, and any student who refuses to turn over a cellphone will be sent to the main office.
It also states, “continued offenses may result in a student being prohibited from having their phone at school for a period of time or additional disciplinary consequences as determined by the administration.”
Camuso said parents who need to be in touch with students should send email, as all students have one-to-one devices where they can access these messages.
Committee members were largely supportive of the new policy, with Christine Pipczynki observing that teachers are the best gauge of what’s right for their students and their classrooms, even if some families object to the measure.
“I think that it’s overdue, and I think that there’s going to be pushback, just like with anything else, but the results and benefits outweigh the pushback,” Pipczynski said.
Pipczynski added that the school needs to be what’s best for students in terms of their education and to prevent issues like cyber bullying that are harmful and detriments to students.
Committee member Ethan Percy said issues with cellphones are growing and dealing with them won’t get easier without a better policy. “Stricter, policy, better procedure” is the way forward, he said.
Percy said the school is losing a lot of time on learning, because teachers are constantly asking students to put cellphones away.
Committee member Paul Phifer agreed that the committee had to act.
Superintendent Anne McKenzie said that the last time the committee considered a stronger policy for high schoolers was before the U.S. Surgeon General’s report outlining the health hazards of cellphone use.
While the committee implemented the policy, members asked that a report be provided in a year on whether it has been effective, and that a good communication plan around informing families be developed.
Committee member Tara Brugger said she would like to see if there are fewer discipline reports and better performance. Brugger said data from school year to school year will show if there is a positive impact on learning.
Chairwoman Humera Fasihuddin, too, said she would like to see whether learning and engagement outcomes increase in the next year by supporting safer technology use in schools.
“I don’t want this to be a fait de accompli, I’d like to see us continue to analyze how this is going,” Fasihuddin said.