Weston School Committee Backs Bell-to-Bell Cell Phone Ban for All Grades

WESTON — April 7, 2025 — Weston School Committee agrees to ban cell phones bell-to-bell in pre-K through grade 8 starting September 2025, with a full high school ban targeted for 2026. The four-member panel present Monday reached consensus that pre-K through eighth grade devices must be stored from opening to closing bell beginning this fall, while Weston High School will phase toward a full bell-to-bell ban — including smartwatches — by September 2026, with class-time and study-hall restrictions in place this coming school year. High School Principal Sarah Baristow, attending the meeting, said a September 2025 full ban would be logistically "an impossibility" given unresolved storage costs and the need for community buy-in. Member Stephen Dietz argued the committee's role is policy, not implementation: "Our job here as school committee members is to create good public policy." A redlined draft policy is expected for a vote at the April 28 meeting. The committee also voted 3-1 to endorse a proposed new secondary schedule for fall 2026 implementation, with Member Kenneth Newberg dissenting over what he called undisclosed policy choices embedded in a schedule he said makes Weston one of the most expensive high schools in the state on a per-pupil basis.