On May 16, a message from Wellesley Public Schools (WPS) Superintendent Dr. David Lussier arrived in the inboxes of students, parents, and faculty, announcing a new cell phone procedure for the upcoming 2025-2026 school year.
According to the procedure, students at each education level will face different limitations on phone use during the school day. At the high school, students will be required to place their cell phones in designated cubbies at the start of each class period. However, the procedure permits students to access their devices during passing periods and lunch.
The cell phone policy is more stringent for middle and elementary school students. Sixth to eighth graders must place their phones in district-provided, lockable pouches for the entire school day. Wellesley’s six elementary schools will continue their “bell-to-bell” ban on cell phones, meaning they must be kept in backpacks for the duration of the day.
The procedure’s guidelines for smartwatches and earbuds remain consistent with the cell phone policies at each school. Along with cell phones, students at the high school will also be required to place these devices inside the cell phone pockets. Though in-class assignments may still require the use of headphones or cell phones, permission to use them must be explicitly granted by teachers.
At the middle school, smartwatches and earbuds must be placed in the same lockable pouches as phones to be collected at the end of the school day. For elementary school students, the procedure mandates that the devices remain in backpacks until students leave the building.
The new procedure is similar to others instated by schools across the state, such as those in Needham and Wayland.
“[The new procedure] squares with best practices that are appearing and that we are seeing all around the country,” said Lussier. “I don’t think that’s unique to Wellesley.”
To create the procedure, a team of 36 parents, administrators, faculty, and students from various schools and departments worked together–forming the Cell Phone Working Group.
“We identified that [the working group] was something we wanted to do…at the end of the last school year,” Lussier said. “Starting in the fall of the 2024-2025 school year, that group was assembled, had a kickoff meeting, and then had regular meetings throughout the year.”
Some members of the group, such as parents and faculty members, volunteered to participate in the creation of the procedure. Students, however, were selected by assistant principals at the high school.
Laylah Powell ’27 was one of eight students in the group.
“It was kind of nerve wracking, but they made me feel like my voice mattered,” Powell said.
The working group also collaborated with Student Congress (StuCo) to help gather student opinions and submit their own recommendations.
StuCo outlined the student body’s desire for a more comprehensive procedure and requested clearer guidelines on cell phone use during the school day.
“We recommended that the high school policy should be specifically tailored to the high school,” said Armita Hamrah ’25, StuCo President. “A lot of the time, the context for the middle school and the elementary schools [are] different. They’re younger, [so] the way they use electronic devices is going to be different.”
Throughout the process, the group also created focus groups of middle and high school students that gave suggestions and shared personal experiences that helped determine the specifics of the procedure. At the middle school level, these were hosted by principal Dr. Mark Ito and WPS Director of Communications and Community Engagement Sharon Gray. Gray also ran the focus group at the high school.
“The student voice…really illuminated the level of connectivity that kids found vital,” said Lussier. “I think it added a human side outside of social media just in terms of the reality of being a teenager and wanting to stay connected.”
The new procedure also intends for “tech-free” zones in the library and around the high school building, but does not have specific plans in place for these yet. Photo by Katherine Xu.
After compiling opinions from various members of the WPS community, the working group began drafting the procedure.
On May 13, Lussier, Gray, and Adam Steiner, the district’s Director of Educational Technology, presented the working group’s final draft to the School Committee. Three days later, Lussier sent the email informing the greater community of the new procedure.
The policy was met with mixed opinions, particularly from teachers.
“If teachers don’t enforce it strictly, then I don’t think that the policy will be very effective. My sense is that, currently, there’s a range of teacher approaches to enforcement, and the policy is essentially as good as the weakest teacher enforcement,” said Mr. Andrew Riely, a history teacher at the high school.
Others worry that the procedure may antagonize those who choose to enforce it.
“As new teachers implement it, especially junior and senior teachers, students might say, ‘well, this teacher doesn’t,’ and it immediately puts that teacher at a disadvantage,” said Mr. Sean Collins, another history teacher in the high school. “For the rest of the year, that teacher will be seen as stricter, and that’s not necessarily true. They’re following the rules.”
While creating the procedure, the working group acknowledged potential variability in teacher enforcement. The group asked educators what they needed in order to address this issue.
“One of the things we learned in [our] survey was that the teachers really wanted to make sure they had administrative support,” Gray said. “So the administrators were with us in building these recommendations—they understand that too.”
The high school administration has made specific plans to support educators who encounter difficulty with enforcement.
“We will give teachers language to include in their syllabi for all classes in the fall,” said Dr. Jamie Chisum, principal of the high school. “If teachers feel [a] student is being disruptive with the phone they [can] send them to the house office.”
One question that remains is whether the procedure will ultimately fulfill its goals of increasing student attentiveness and socialization. To ensure that the policy meets these objectives, the administration turned to scientific research and government instruction for information.
“One of our parents is actually a researcher who works on [the impact of cell phone use], so she was able to present some of her research…to us,” said Lussier. “We also were learning about…proposed legislation at the state level and looking at…new state guidance around this topic.”
Through the procedure’s detail, the working group not only aims to decrease cell phone usage in school, but overall student phone use as well. However, doing so would require total community involvement.
“My hope and aspiration is that what’s happening at schools would be part of a partnership with parents and caregivers and students,” said Lussier. “This is a bigger issue than just schools. We want to play our part and…this is a good step in that direction, but we’d really like to see the community step up.”
To achieve this goal, the working group included a list of “Community-wide Recommendations” in their final memorandum. They suggested restricting smartphone use until eighth grade, limiting access to social media, and fostering “healthy digital habits” for students.
Ultimately, the district strives to remain flexible and open to change.
“This is not the last time we’re going to have this conversation as technology continues to evolve. We’re going to have to continue to adapt,” Lussier said. “At the end of the day, we want kids to make healthy choices. Some of that is us making choices for the environment, but the other [part] is having some trust that kids can make these choices for themselves.”
