Here's What A New Cellphone Policy Could Look Like At Darien High School

DARIEN, CT — School officials this week made recommendations to the Board of Education on new protocols for cellphone use at Darien High School, which could be in place as early as September.

At the start of this school year in Darien, new guidelines were put in place restricting cellphone and personal device use in grades K-8, but an advisory council of Darien High School students, parents, staff, and administrators was put together to further evaluate what to do at the high school level.

Assistant DHS Principal Ellen Dunn and Darien Public Schools Instructional Technology Coordinator Timothy McGuire went before the school board on Tuesday with an update on the council's work and recommendations on new policy.

The advisory council is recommending that beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, cellphones should be prohibited for student use during the school day in grades nine through 11. In limited academic settings with the express permission of a staff member, students in those grades can use their phones for educational purposes.

Seniors at DHS would have the privilege to access their cellphones during the school day, but outside of the classroom.

As is the case in other grade levels under the new device guidelines, students using a device for a clearly defined medical purpose would be granted exceptions.

"The majority of staff and parents believe an improvement and a focus on learning would occur if devices were more broadly restricted," McGuire said, referencing survey data compiled by the advisory council. "It's worth noting that while about a third of students think such a change would have a negative impact, the rest, that's nearly two-thirds, do not feel that way."

Board of Education Chair Jill McCammon asked what the reasoning was for granting seniors more cellphone privileges.

"I think we see our 12th graders as adults. They're heading off to college, they're heading off to their future and they're making decisions about what they're choosing. We want them to gain the confidence that they're able to do that and manage that before they leave us," Dunn said. "They drive to school, they have an open-ended campus, and we don't want them leaving campus to get on their phone; we want them to stay with us. We think it's appropriate developmentally to allow them to make those choices and decisions."

Board member Joanna Walsh asked how the advisory council plans "to mitigate the fact that almost all of these kids have MacBooks, and when they open their computer, they can be on their phone instead of engaged in the classroom."

Dunn called that "a real issue," but said the advisory council concluded the mobility of a cellphone presents more of a challenge than a laptop.

"With a bring-your-own-device model, we're not going to remove that by next fall for sure," Dunn said. "We have focused on the cellphone because that's the device we see that gets in the way more of the socialization and the well-being and some of the challenges our students face."

The advisory council is expected to come back in the spring for another update. Walsh expressed a desire to learn more about how enforcement would work at the high school level. Board members also said they wanted to have a larger conversation about technology use in the district.

Going forward, McGuire said the advisory council will focus on three areas to prepare for the recommended policy:

• Education: Providing education to families, staff and students about healthy and responsible cellphone use.
• Experiences: Model experiences in the spring semester that limit access to cellphones, such as "away for the day" events.
• Implementation: Develop a logistical plan to implement the new protocols in the fall of 2025.

Superintendent of DPS Dr. Alan Addley said incoming ninth graders next year would not experience any change as the guidelines would be a continuation of what they experienced in middle school, and he said seniors would still have access to their phones, just not in the classroom.

Tuesday's Board of Education meeting can be viewed in full on-demand on DarienTV79.