A proposal to ban Portland Public Schools students from having cellphones during the school day received strong support but also some pushback during a first reading at a school board meeting at Casco Bay High School Tuesday night.

Those who support the bell-to-bell ban cited the educational, social and mental health benefits, while those who are opposed, including many students, expressed concerns about implementation, safety and equity.

Discussions around banning cellphones from Portland schools began last summer following a national trend toward preventing phone use in schools. The current Portland Public Schools policy says students cannot use their phones in class, but allows them to use them in the halls and at lunch, something teachers and parents have testified leaves too much leeway and results in teachers frequently needing to confiscate phones or discourage their use during class time.

The Curriculum and Policy Committee of Portland’s school board took up the issue this spring, and following comments from parents and teachers moved forward a revised version of the policy that would require all Portland schools to collect cellphones from students at the start of the day and return them at the end. Since then, the district has gathered feedback during five stakeholder engagement meetings with students, families and teachers. There are two more scheduled next week, including one specifically for multilingual families.

Portland wouldn’t be alone in adopting a phone-free policy. Other schools and districts, like Bath-area Regional School Unit 1, have already instituted bell-to-bell bans. The Maine Legislature considered a bill this month that would have created a statewide ban, but scaled back the language, citing concerns about overstepping local control.

During a first reading and workshop Tuesday night, more than a dozen Portland parents and teachers turned out in support of the policy, citing difficulties enforcing the current policy, the mental health implications of cellphone use and the impact of cellphone distractions on learning.

“I full-heartedly support the banning of cellphones. I am confident that we can overcome logistics, and this will take some time, but this should not be why we do not do it,” said Casco Bay High teacher Rebecca Lynch Nichols. “We owe it to our students, the children, to provide an environment where they are free from cellphone distraction.”

Ernest Braun, a 24-year-old dedicated substitute at Casco Bay, said the distraction of phones is a common denominator in every classroom.

“Ten years ago, I wish I had this policy. It would have saved me years of recovering my attention span, seeking support for my mental health,” Braun said. “And most significantly to me, as a lover of learning, I would have been able to engage so much more deeply with my learning and my peers, and now with my students.”

A parent of a Rowe Elementary student, Lauren Hamlin, said she had attended a stakeholder meeting and supported the policy.

“The school board has a choice to make on behalf of the community, the choice to give every child in this district a gift, whether they see it that way or not, the gift of 6 ½ hours to engage, collaborate and just be, to live and learn in the absence of distractions designed specifically to capture as much attention for profit as humanly possible,” Hamlin said.

But many speakers also expressed skepticism about the proposed policy and the challenges of enforcing it. Some said they supported the intention behind the policy, but were concerned it would be too burdensome on school staff or that the policy process lacked student engagement. Some parents said they were concerned about not being able to be in touch with their students during the day.

Portland High School teacher Kimberlee Elder testified against the policy, citing concerns about equity.

“I believe in the overwhelming data that demonstrates the numerous ills of phone use, I hope we can all agree on science. However, the proposed policy is fraught with inequities,” Elder said. “Is the teen parent in my classroom an exception? Is my new-arrival multilingual student an exception? He relies on a translation app to connect with his teammates about rides to practice. Are his English-speaking teammates an exception, as they also rely on translation apps to respond and connect?”

Ella, a Portland High student, said she wanted to keep her phone on her for safety reasons, and worried that a stricter policy would push students to subvert rules even further.

“A bell-to-bell ban would only further alienate students and make them less willing to engage in those policies,” she said. 

After the public hearing, board members workshopped the policy, but did not discuss any specific amendments. Director of Strategy Sarah Warren said Portland administrators are planning to visit Morse High School in RSU 1 this week to see how that school has implemented its bell-to-bell ban.

She told board members that during engagement meetings on the policy, high schoolers have generally not been enthusiastic about the idea, but that was not unexpected. Student representatives from Portland and Deering high schools described near-universal opposition from their peers.

Tuesday’s workshop was just a first reading of the policy; the board will likely take a final vote on the change at its June 10 meeting.

There are two remaining phone policy stakeholder meetings: one on Tuesday, May 27 at 6 p.m. at Casco Bay High School, and one for multilingual families on Wednesday, May 28 at 5:30 p.m. at King Middle School. After the engagement sessions, the district plans to send out a community survey about the policy.