As the school year progresses, new policies around cell phone usage, attendance, and tardiness have sparked some debate amongst students and staff. One such policy is that students must place their phones in designated “phone pockets” at the beginning of each class, in I-Blocks, and during study halls.
“I think the cell phone rule is great because it allows teachers to be consistent,” said Sarah Legge, an AP Biology teacher. “It encourages collaboration and human connection, which is really important.”
Though some students agree that the new policies are beneficial to the learning environment, others have raised concerns about being able to access their cell phones in emergencies.
“I can actually get work done now,” said a student. “But in an emergency… what if I don’t get my phone?”
Others echoed this concern, voicing the potential danger in case of evacuations, when phones may not be accessible. Students also explained how the phone policy had an adverse effect on productivity, preventing access to work outside of school or limiting “things that aren’t distracting…for example, music…which actually helps me to focus.”
This year has also brought changes to the attendance policies: a 2-minute grace period before a student is marked tardy, a more rigorous verification for absences, and a limit of four absences (excused or unexcused) per quarter before a student reaches N status. These new rules stirred several controversies: while some appreciated their fairness, others found them restrictive.
“I like the attendance policy because I think it helps teachers who have kids that are chronically tardy… Our classes can start faster, and people who want to skip class have more consequences that they’ll have to face,” said one student.
Others have expressed concern over the redefinition of excused absences, emphasizing its potential to limit students from extracurricular opportunities.
“As a debater, I think that it limits the opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities,” said a student. “It’s almost like you’re penalizing people for things they can’t control or for doing extracurriculars.”
Another student shared a similar frustration, stating that “as a figure skater…I’ve already had to do a lot of work to get attendance and to not have unexcused absences, and now with this new attendance, it’s making it harder with more communication, because I have to keep appealing along with everything else I have.”
Finally, many students voiced concerns about the absence policy in regards to student sicknesses.
“People get sick a lot, … and people will show up to school when they’re not feeling well and they’re not at their best, and they’re going to do worse if they have assessments. And because they’re showing up to school sick, they’re going to get other people sick,” said a student.
Many teachers expressed that the philosophy behind the N status is that, whether the absences are excused or unexcused, many students are still missing valuable class time. Through the new policies, the administration hopes to place more emphasis on learning and facilitate a more reliable appeals process.
“I think at the moment, there is confusion or misunderstanding, or just people are not on the same page about what exactly the new policy entails,” said one teacher. Many noted that perhaps as more time passes and questions are answered, students and staff will eventually adjust.
A few teachers have pointed out the importance of student feedback, expressing interest in the continuation of adapting policies to create a more inclusive and effective learning environment.
“It’ll be great to hear student feedback on all these policies and see how they worked out … to maybe look at them again next year and see what we think, reflect on how they were implemented and how they can be tweaked,” Legge said.
Note: Although extra care was taken to represent a wide range of anonymous voices from different backgrounds, a majority of student opinions came from the class of 2027.
