School Committee Votes to Ban Phones Bell-to-Bell

School Committee · Meeting of June 17, 2026

Northampton School Committee voted 7-3 to require phones be inaccessible all day, not just the lighter pilot its own subcommittee had recommended. Members Amy Martyn, Alena Bartoli, Cindy Mahoney, Valerie Reiss, Tiffany Jewell, Robbie Saner Sullivan and Chair Gina-Louise Sciarra backed the policy; members Anat Weisenfreund, Renika Montgomery-Tamakloe and Michael Stein opposed it. Weisenfreund had presented the Rules and Policy Subcommittee's recommended "off-and-away" pilot modeled on JFK Middle School, citing a survey showing 75 percent of students oppose a ban.

Member Michael Stein warned the district is "committing to spending the estimate we got is $104,000 without explaining what you're cutting." The policy takes effect before the August 26 start of school, with exceptions for students' IEPs and health plans, and directs the incoming superintendent to build enforcement procedures over the summer.

In the full story:

• Executive Session and Call to Order
• Cell Phone Policy: From Off-and-Away Pilot to Bell-to-Bell Ban
• Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan: Annual Review
• Retirement Fairness Resolution Postponed
• Personnel MOAs Finalized
• Superintendent's Report and Farewell
• Budget and Property Subcommittee
• Superintendent Evaluation Subcommittee
• CPAC Report
• Future Business and Summer Calendar
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,548 words

Source: the School Committee meeting of June 17, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.