<div>Student use of smart phones in classrooms dominated discussion at a Newport School Committee candidate forum on Sept. 19. A large turnout packed Innovate Newport for about three hours at the event, which was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Newport County, the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce, AARP Rhode Island, East Bay Media Group and Newport This Week. It was moderated by the Community College of Rhode Island’s senior advisor to the president and chief of staff, Amy Kempe. Incumbent Robert Leary is recovering from recent surgery and did not attend. One topic prevailed above all when considering improving edu­cational outcomes, as candidates frequently spoke of a potential ban on smart phones in the classroom.School Committee Chair Re­becca Bolan was the first to sug­gest an all-out ban during the school day, saying the committee is currently exploring the option. Incumbent James Dring followed suit, calling a smart phone ban “the single-biggest thing the School Committee could do.” “Cell phones in school cause anxiety, stress and for the kids to lose their focus,” he said. “If we can get phones out of kids’ hands in school, I think it will improve ed­ucation and make behavioral and mental health issues significantly better.” The discussion caused a member of the audience to ask the candidates about the current phone policy in schools and how it can be better enforced. Currently, Rogers High School students are allowed to use phones only be­tween classes and during lunch, but the policy is not enforced, resulting in many students being on their phones throughout the school day. Challenger Molly Kapstein Cote said she deals in educational policy professionally and that policies must be straightforward and bear penalties to be enforceable. If not, Cote said, the policy needs to be rewritten. Incumbent Stephanie Winslow chairs the policy subcommittee and classified policy writing as “an art.” She said policy must be clear and easily implementable, must designate the responsible party for enforcement and that school leadership must embrace the idea behind the policy. Challenger Robert Power said the responsibility of the policy lies with whoever is supposed to en­force it and that school leadership should either “do its job or find somewhere else to work.” Another, Elizabeth Cullen, said she attended a recent committee workshop on phones in school and was concerned with Rogers High School administrators’ atti­tudes, saying that many families in attendance desired a stronger ap­proach, while leadership seemed hesitant. Incumbent Sandra Flowers said the current policy has been rewritten numerous times and she fears an “uproar” from some parents if phones are banned in schools. School Committee Vice Chair Kendra Muenter said the phone policy is the hardest to en­force and the School Committee has tried many options without success. She said she is in favor of an all-out ban during school hours. “We have to take the phones out of their hand and put it away for the six and a half hours that school is in session,” she said. Challenger Loretta Burke agreed with a ban. Challenger Penelope Billing­ton Hunt said the current policy is not enforceable and that society overall is struggling with addiction to phones. She said it’s not realistic to ask teachers to be responsible for reversing that trend. The candidates were also asked about regionalization. Following forums earlier this month in which all Middletown and Newport can­didates agreed that regionaliza­tion between the two districts is not dead, the candidates for New­port School Committee felt simi­larly, with all but Flowers believing the option to still be on the table. The candidates also agreed that the two most-significant roles of the School Committee are setting policy and the district’s annual budget. This bled into a question about candidates’ vision for Thompson Middle School, with Power saying nothing is wrong with the TMS building and it must be main­tained. But Cullen said enrollment is declining and pitched using the school for housing or offices, re­turning the district’s fifth graders to Pell Elementary School, trans­ferring grades six through 10 to Rogers High and having juniors and seniors attend academies or seek programs with community organizations for workforce devel­opment and college preparation. “We have to be innovative and think outside the box,” Cullen said. Flowers, Billington-Hunt and Muenter agreed with Power, with Flowers saying the community takes pride in its school buildings, Muenter offering that students love Thompson’s Broadway loca­tion and Billington-Hunt saying the building is in great condition and some criticism of the school has to do with it not being in a tra­ditional suburban setting. Burke championed regionaliza­tion. “I heard a plan that the new Rogers could be the middle school for a time and that the school they’re building in Middletown could be the high school,” she said. “I’m sure we could find something fantastic to do with Thompson.” On the new Rogers High, Power said he is running on a platform to ensure the automotive and cosme­tology programming is reinstated into the project after being poten­tially eliminated in construction of the new building. Dring, Burke, Flowers and Muenter agreed with expanding career and technical education programming in the new school. Winslow said the educational needs of the community could shift and the School Committee needs to stay nimble. Bolan said the new high school should be a “24/7” building that can meet the needs of the community and be open to the public for educational purposes off-hours. Cullen said it should not be a traditional high school and the dis­trict needs to explore partnerships with Salve Regina University and other institutions. Billington-Hunt said the vision of one school cannot be decided in a vacuum and the city has to consider all school facilities when thinking of the future. She said she would be open to regionalization proposals that prioritize academic outcomes and structural changes and not the consolidation of school buildings. Cote agreed. When asked if they support the superintendent in the ongoing labor dispute with the Teachers’ Association of Newport, candi­dates said the question was unfair and it was skipped. All candidates said they would support and defend the health, equality and safety of transgender and LGBTQ+ students and all students should have access to AP courses. On recent staff restructurings and the elimination of services for multi-lingual-learning (MLL) stu­dents at the center of the labor dis­pute, incumbents said the district is doing a good job of meeting the needs of MLL students and fami­lies, though improvements could be made. Some challengers were more critical. “The changes that were made were a financial decision, although they were not subsequently talked about as a financial decision, which was confusing for folks,” Billington-Hunt said. “I think we’ve reached a point in which we have to consider that with 20 percent of students in MLL programs, and 35 percent of students identifying as Latino, we need to serve those stu­dents in their primary classroom with certified MLL teachers.” Other questions included the importance of early childhood ed­ucation and standardized testing. To view the forum in its entirety, go to newportthisweek.com. </div>

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Cellphone Ban Unites School Committee Candidates

Student use of smart phones in classrooms dominated discussion at a Newport School Committee candidate forum on Sept. 19. A large turnout packed Innovate Newport for about three hours at the event, which was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Newport County, the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce, AARP Rhode Island, East Bay Media Group and Newport This Week. It was moderated by the Community College of Rhode Island’s senior advisor to the president and chief of staff, Amy Kempe. Incumbent Robert Leary is recovering from recent surgery and did not attend.