The ConVal School District will implement a new “bell-to-bell” cellphone policy at the start of the 2025-2026 school year.
The policy will require students to keep their cellphones in their backpacks from the opening bell to the closing bell, including at lunch and in transitions between classes. Exceptions will be made in the case of medical needs.
ConVal announced the new policy just after the state Legislature passed a statewide ban on student cellphone use in high schools.
“We have a group at ConVal that had already been researching the effects of cellphones, and they were already going to ask for a ‘bell-to bell’ ban,” said ConVal Superintendent Ann Forrest. “The policy will not impact the elementary and middle schools to same degree, because they had already implemented the rule that phones have to stay in backpacks, but this will be a major change at the high school.”
The district will hold a public forum about the new policy on Wednesday night, Aug. 13, at 7 p.m. at the Lucy Hurlin Theatre at ConVal High School. Members of the public are welcome to email questions about the policy forum@conval.edu can email.
The ConVal cellphone policy committee is comprised of graphic arts teacher Jessica Madden, librarian Ashley Mudrick, Tyler Mudrick, who is a special education teacher and director of ConVal’s Adult Diploma program; and Sarah Grossi, who teaches in the CTE. The group presented its findings on the effects of cellphones in school at the Tuesday night meeting of the ConVal School Board.
Ashley Mudrick summarized research indicating the negative effects of cellphone use on adolescent mental health, noting that there is extensive research available on the subject, and that many states have already implemented “bell-to-bell” bans on cellphone use in schools.
“There has been a huge increase in mental health disorders since 2010, which coincides with when the iPhone was released. ER visits for self-harm among adolescents and teenagers spiked,” Ashley Mudrick said.
The committee also researched the effects of cellphone use in schools on teachers and staff.
Mudrick reported that according to a staff survey, which was completed by 50% of the ConVal staff, “One-hundred percent of respondents said cellphones impacted students attention and learning.”
“According to the results of the survey, most staff members did not believe CV has an effective cellphone policy, and 85% of our staff said managing a cellphone use has taken a large toll on their job satisfaction, and that they are spending way too much time having to police cellphone use on a daily basis,” Ashley Mudrick said. “Ninety percent of staff supported a bell-to-bell ban.”
Mudrick said research also shows that when cellphones are banned, “student engagement will be increase, and it will reduce peer conflict during the school day.”
In answer to questions from School Board members about a cellphone policy for teachers and staff, Ashley Mudrick said “We need to model the behavior we want to see.”
“For our staff, it may need to be that cellphones need to stay in desks or in offices and will not be used around students,” she said
School Board member Sarah Edmunds of Antrim, who is principal of Fall Mountain Regional High School in Langdon, said that her district has already implemented the policy.
“The kids did not fight it,” Edmunds said. “We have had fewer disciplinary interactions all around. What we found was that is that it has been good of them to step away from it. It is like breathing fresh air for them.”