MANCHESTER, N.H. – During their Aug. 25 meeting, the Manchester Board of School Committee approved a new policy on how to implement the state’s new law banning most cell phone usage in classrooms, although the policy may face further scrutiny as it transitions from theory into practice.
The policy was based upon concepts discussed by the board’s Policy Committee a week earlier, which also built upon an existing policy discussing the appropriate use of electronic devices in schools.
Manchester School District Attorney Matt Upton took the committee’s requirements and crafted the draft policy, which was then disseminated among the district’s school principals in the attempt to create uniform implementation of the policy throughout the city.
“We’re required to do this and we’re doing the best we can with the staff we have,” said Upton.
Upton added at this point there is no additional monetary cost toward the implementation of the policy at this time.
At-Large Board of School Committee Member Peter Argeropoulos said that warnings should not be given to students seen using cell phones at any point between the beginning and end of the instructional day because other staff members would be unaware if students had already been given warnings, creating uneven implementation of the policy.
Argeropoulos, who works in the Nashua School District, says that this policy was overdue and that educators had been failing to stem the tide of cell phones cutting into educational instruction for a decade.
“Our one sole focus in school is to teach kids and (phones have) become a huge problem in our ability to do that,” he said.
Students with documented health, behavioral or language learning issues where phones are needed such as apps connected to insulin pumps or translation apps for English language learners are exempted from the policy.
The policy was unanimously approved with the exception of Vice Chair Jim O’Connell, who felt that the policy micromanaged school staff, would interrupt staff by transferring instructional time into time having to deal with the phones, and would eventually create an onerous financial burden by requiring new devices to store the phones.
Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais and Upton noted that constructing this policy was akin to “building a plane while it is in flight” and more updates and modifications to the policy may become necessary in the future as the realities of implementing the policy become apparent with the beginning of the school year.
Manchester School District Superintendent Dr. Jenn Chmiel said that additional communication will be provided to parents in the near future regarding specifics related to the policy and how it may impact their child within Manchester’s public schools.
Chmiel added that staff members will also be requested not to use their phones during the school day in order to model the behavior that they expect out of students.