One of the most important (and often overlooked) rituals ahead of the start of the school year is a close reading of the latest student handbooks. This is especially true this year as the Pembroke School Committee has established new cell phone policies.
PCJ interviewed school committee member Katrina Delaney to ask about how and why the cell phone policies were established. Delaney explained that in February 2025, the Policy Subcommittee of the Pembroke School Committee began reviewing the district's policies and other school district policies alongside similar conversations at the state level. The Policy Subcommittee expressed concern about student cell phone use. Delaney explained that "partially, this was a conversation we were having because of the mental health and research around development and cell phones being addictive." More than a year of fact-finding and research followed, including reviewing articles about cell phone addiction, teen mental health and bullying. A survey about the use of cell phones was sent to families in the fall of 2025, giving students the opportunity to respond. Input was sought from the advisory council that works with the principal at the high school, teachers, administrators, parents and students.
At the July 2026 school committee meeting, the new policies were accepted and became part of this year’s student handbooks. "DESE (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) said they were going to give us guidance, but that would not be until October," Delaney said, which would be well after the start of the school year. She continued that "doing a change mid-year is really tough especially when it is a logistical change" and that enforcing the policy at the start of the school year would allow for consistent expectations for students, teachers and faculty. Several Pembroke schools have operated on different policies than each other for the past few years, and the school committee felt a consistent policy would make it clearer for everyone. Delaney said that the feedback from the advisory council, school principals and the student advisory board to the school committee agreed that inconsistent policies created confusion, and that the new policy alleviates some of the gray areas that raised questions before.
Phones will not be "locked" in the classroom, as some school departments have chosen to do. According to the handbooks, Pembroke High School will have students put their devices into one container in the classroom, monitored by the teacher, and students will be able to work with their teacher if they have an emergency need to access the phone. The middle school requires phones to be silenced and stored in backpacks or lockers, and the elementary handbook says phones must be stored in backpacks. Delaney explained that exceptions will be written into a student's learning plan if needed, but communication will be key to making sure the individual student's mental health needs are met.
Delaney said there has not been much negative feedback, "I have seen some at the school committee meetings, and some online," but said that the negative sentiment mostly came down to differing opinions on individual aspects such as study hall cell phone use. Delaney said that for the most part, public comments have been positive. When asked about evaluation of these policies, Delaney said that a review plan was already in place.
The following is an excerpt from the Pembroke High School Student Handbook, under the section titled "Cellular Phones and Electronic Entertainment Devices".
Students' cell phones and other personal electronic devices, including smart watches, smart glasses, and earbuds, shall be turned off and placed in the cell phone caddy in each classroom at the start of each period, where they will remain until the end of the period. This would include during student-initiated requests to leave the classroom. Students using these devices will have the device taken away by a teacher and turned over to an administrator for the remainder of the school day. Progressive discipline will be applied for subsequent offenses.
The following is an excerpt from the Pembroke Community Middle School Student Handbook. In the version posted on the school district website as of publication, the cell phone policy appears under the heading "Bomb Threats, False Fire Alarms, and Possession /Exploding of Fireworks". The line "Cell Phones, Portable Listening Devices, Cameras, Video Recording Devices, and other Electronic Devices" appears in the document but is run into the end of the preceding paragraph as body text rather than formatted as a section heading, so it does not appear in the table of contents.
Students will not be permitted to use phones or other electronic forms of communication, or wear portable listening devices, including ear buds, in school unless given specific permission by administration or, pertaining to classroom use, with permission of the classroom teacher. Cell phones are to be stored in backpacks or lockers and notifications are to be silenced while in school.
Students are not allowed to use devices while walking in the hallways during the school day. Students are not allowed to use devices during lunch. Students must obtain permission from school administration for use of cameras and other video recording devices. The school will not be responsible for these items if they are damaged or stolen.
In an emergency, a student may be contacted via the front office. If a student needs to contact home, they may ask their teacher for permission to use the classroom phone. Conversely, they could ask their teacher for permission to go to the office to request to use the office or their personal cell phone to call home.
Use of cell phones while waiting for the late bus is at the approval of the supervising staff member.
Students using prohibited items during school without permission are subject to disciplinary action of Disturbing the Normal Process according to the Student Code of Conduct. Cell phones and/or ear buds or other electronic devices will be confiscated and held in the front office until the end of the school day, where students may come and pick them up. If there is repeated, unauthorized student use, additional consequences over and above losing access to the device(s) for the day, may be incurred (e.g., after school and/or lunch detentions, calls home, the device may be taken for the remainder of the school day, and a parent/caregiver pick up device).
The following is an excerpt from the Pembroke Elementary School Handbook, which covers Bryantville, Hobomock and North Pembroke Elementary schools, under the section titled "Technology".
Students will not be permitted to use phones or other electronic forms of communication, or wear portable listening devices, including ear buds, in school unless given specific permission by administration or, pertaining to classroom use, with permission of the classroom teacher.
Cell phones are to be stored in backpacks and notifications are to be silenced while in school. Students are not allowed to use devices while walking in the hallways during the school day. Students are not allowed to use devices during lunch. Students must obtain permission from school administration for use of cameras and other video recording devices. The school will not be responsible for these items if they are damaged or stolen. In an emergency, a student may be contacted via the front office. If a student needs to contact home, they may ask their teacher for permission to use the classroom phone. Conversely, they could ask their teacher for permission to go to the office to request to use the office or their personal cell phone to call home.
Students using prohibited items during school without permission are subject to disciplinary action of Disturbing the Normal Process according to the Student Code of Conduct. Cell phones and/or ear buds or other electronic devices will be confiscated and held in the front office until the end of the school day, where students may come and pick them up. If there is repeated, unauthorized student use, additional consequences over and above losing access to the device(s) for the day, may be incurred (e.g., after school and/or lunch detentions, calls home, the device may be taken for the remainder of the school day, and a parent/caregiver pick up device).
