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Cell phone policy is in the air in Sudbury. The Sudbury Public Schools School Committee (SPSSC) updated their policy on cell phone use during the school day in January 2025. Now, the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School School Committee (LSSC) is discussing recommendations on phone policy at the high school.
While the SPSSC policy outright banned phone use during the school day, the recommendation to the LSSC was to implement the use of phone caddies in each classroom. The idea is simple: all phones go into the caddy when students enter the classroom, with few exceptions. The recommendation was the result of a process that began in 2024 according to the presentation in the May 28 meeting of the committee.
As part of the process to develop a recommendation, Lincoln-Sudbury faculty were surveyed. The phone caddy solution was the top choice among faculty, while maintaining the current protocol was a distant second.
With that data in hand the recommendation to the committee was clear:
Notably, the Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell introduced legislation earlier this year that would ban cell phone use during the school day. The Lincoln-Sudbury faculty did not support going so far as a total ban during the full school day. Differences of opinion with the State aren’t hard to find in L-S history.
The draft language presented allowed for some exceptions during the school day:
“Use of personal electronic devices: Students may use their cell phones before school and after school as well as during lunch, free periods and passing time. However, upon entering classrooms, it is expected that cell phones will be turned off and stored in a dedicated container in the classroom for the entirety of the period, including any time in which students leave the classroom to go to the restroom. Phone use must not interfere with students arriving to class on time. Students should remove their earbuds/headphones upon entering the classroom. Teachers may request that students store away additional electronic devices. Cell phone may be use for academic purposes at the discretion of the teacher.”
The LSSC was broadly receptive to the recommendation, and members discussed whether or not the recommendation needed to be codified in committee policies, or if it was something best implemented inside the building by the administration and faculty. At the end of the discussion it appeared the district would go the administrative route for implementation, likely in the next school year, with some language and communications to be worked out in the weeks and months ahead.
The full presentation is embedded below, or can be accessed from the LSSC agenda here.