You Can't Hear Me Now: Beverly High Bans Cell Phones In Classrooms For New School Year

BEVERLY, MA — Beverly High School students will have to go without their phones while in class — with phones placed in a "cell phone locker" for the duration of each period — in a decision designed to increase engagement and etiquette while decreasing distractions beginning at the start of the new school year.

Beverly High Principal Mark Thomas told the School Committee on Wednesday night that students will be expected to surrender their phones for the 84-minute classes but will get them back at the end of each class for use during lunch or other non-learning time during the school day.

"The real goal is to maximize instruction time," he said. "I don't think it's news to anyone that cell phone devices have impacted our students' ability to focus on the task at hand in class and we want to maximize what they are getting out of their classes."

Superintendent Sue Charochak and Thomas said the policy was modeled on the middle school policy that bans phones in classes as well as those in area districts. Salem is also prohibiting the possession of phones at the high school during the school day this year through the use of "cell phone pouches" that are locked at the beginning of each day and released at the end of the school day.

"I think the key right now is that disconnecting," Charochak said. "It's a significant issue. Maybe it's starting with getting that disconnect and then it's maybe it's a matter of (promoting) conversations and discussions.

"But, first, we need to get them engaged and learning."

Thomas said the initial feedback he's gotten from parents has been positive on the new protocol — while he expects the students will soon more or less learn to deal with it.

"There might be some upperclassmen who aren't used to this who might not be thrilled with the change as it's come to them," he allowed. "But once they get in that routine I think our students do a wonderful job of going along with anything we're setting in front of them. If we're supporting it as a school, they jump right into it."

Thomas said exceptions would be made for medical necessities of a phone — such as a student with Type 1 diabetes who uses a phone to monitor blood sugar levels — and that administrators will try to work with students who are having more trouble detaching from their phones than others.

He said the policy will not extend to smartwatch devices.

"We talked about watches," he said. "But our feeling was that if most of their peers have their phones away who's going to be texting them in the first place?

"We're not going to get down the road of making them take their Apple watches off. That's not what want to do."

The School Committee voted unanimously to adopt the change to the student handbook approving the classroom ban.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)