Saugus dials in on cellphones, dress codes in schools

SAUGUS — Potential updates to the district’s dress-code and cellphone policies were discussed at a School Committee Policy Subcommittee meeting Monday.

A point of focus for the subcommittee was a particular portion of the dress-code policy, which currently reads, “Students have the right of freedom of expression, and the responsibility for the dress and appearance of the student rests with the individual students and guardians.”

“The way that I read this, you can wear whatever you want,” School Committee Chairman Vincent Serino said.

Michelle Sullivan, a parent who was in attendance, said her child is a fan of the rock band Guns N’ Roses.

“I won’t let him wear a Guns N’ Roses T-shirt to school, because I don’t know if that is going to fall under this (dress-code policy),” Sullivan said. “He shows up with a Guns N’ Roses T-shirt just because he likes the band, his classmate shows up with shorts that are inappropriate…or she’s got undergarments hanging out… How is that handled?”

Newly appointed Saugus Middle School Assistant Principal of Culture and Climate Michelle Dwyer said that she recommends handling conversations about dress codes in a “coaching style.”

“I’ve never had a student come in with something that I’ve had a conversation with them about, but it pops up in different forms,” Dwyer said.

Serino said that the district needs “hard and fast rules” for the policy, because otherwise it puts the administration in a bad position.

School Committee member Stephanie Mastrocola emphasized the importance of having administrators at the meeting.

“It’s easy for me to sit up here and go ‘no, no, no’ — I’m not in the building… so I wanted to hear from the ones who are going to be implementing it,” she said.

Kim Gibbs, a parent who has an educational background, said that rules and expectations are set by the committee.

“We also need to make sure that we’re giving the administrators the tools and the backing in order to be able to enforce whatever is decided,” she said.

Ultimately, the subcommittee did not change the dress-code policy’s language, but a gender-neutral dress-code illustration will be used as a guideline. The illustration shows that tops must have straps and cover in length the entire area from the armpit down to the mid-thigh, and bottoms must not be shorter than mid-thigh length.

The subcommittee also discussed the district’s cellphone policy, which Serino said no one is following.

Saugus Middle-High School Principal Brendon Sullivan said that the goal at the middle school, after consulting with Dwyer and newly appointed Saugus Middle School Associate Principal David Micu, is that students should not have their cellphones at school.

“We want to communicate to the parents, we’d prefer if you didn’t send your child to school with the cellphone,” Brendon Sullivan said.

Brendon Sullivan said that they had previously piloted a policy of having students put their phones in their lockers.

“If they come to school with it, take it back at the end of the day,” Brendon Sullivan said. “If it’s a habitual problem, then it goes to the assistant principal, or if it’s a first offense, maybe they have the opportunity to store in their locker for the day at a reasonable time, not disrupting learning to do that.”

Sullivan said that the policy extends to when students are in the cafeteria, in the hallway, or when they have a substitute teacher.

Gibbs said that she was aware of instances when children were encouraged to utilize their cellphones in the classroom.

“The rationale for loosening up the cellphone policy for educational purposes was prior to being a one-to-one district with Chromebooks,” Superintendent Michael Hashem said. “That is off the table now that they don’t need it.”

Micu read from the cellphone policy for Saugus Middle School, which emphasizes a “no cell from bell to bell,” approach for students in grades six through eight.

“Our ultimate goal is to allow students to engage with their peers and curriculum with as minimal disruptions to their learning environment as possible,” Micu read.

The policy states that cellphones are expected to be in lockers or at home from 7:50 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. It c overs all personal electronic devices, wireless headphones, or any other electronic devices, outside of exemptions if students medically require a device.

At a students’ third infraction of the policy, the cellphone or electronic device is confiscated by the administration, and can only be returned to a parent or guardian. Failure to turn over the device when requested will result in major disciplinary referral, according to the policy.

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