The first day of the new school year also saw the first School Committee meeting, at which wearable smart technology was banned in schools and the Massachusetts’ Protect Act was supported.
Superintendent Dave Murphy said he visited each of the district’s 17 schools Tuesday, and described the day as “incredibly joyful” despite “hiccups” mainly related to bus delays. Murphy said 71 percent of buses were on time on the first day. That’s a small improvement from rates from the beginning of the last school year. Bus delays have come up before in Cambridge, with updates to the district’s bus tracking software made last year.
The first day of school saw rain and coincided with the state primary election, which may have contributed to traffic and delays. The three buses that were most delayed on Tuesday improved significantly on Wednesday, a district spokesperson confirmed. The district will continue to monitor delays throughout the coming weeks. Last year, the worst delays came slightly after the first day of school, which is why Murphy said he was wary of drawing early conclusions about Tuesday’s data.
Absenteeism less chronic
Rates of chronic absenteeism at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School reached 36 percent in the 2024-25 school year, a concern for the district. Murphy said that figure fell 12 points in the 2025-26 school year. (Rates for the first day of school were not available, but Murphy said attendance is usually high at the beginning of the year.)
New tech guidelines
Murphy and Heather Francis, the district’s Chief Academic Officer, presented new technology guidelines, which included an opt-in policy for take-home Chromebooks for sixth graders. That means sixth graders will leave their laptops at school unless families specifically request otherwise. The opposite will be true for students in grades 7-12, where families can ask that devices be kept at school.
Chromebooks are mostly not used in K-5 classrooms, with exceptions for students with specific needs. “We just really don’t think that [young] students should be using one-to-one devices,” Francis said.
Other restrictions on technology use are underway.
A working group is set to issue district-wide guidance on artificial intelligence by October, Murphy said, which may feature a “strict boundary” on things like staff usage of AI tools.
The School Committee also took up a motion related to AI on Tuesday, one that bans the use of wearable smart devices on school grounds.
The motion, co-sponsored by Members Arjun Jaikumar, Luisa de Paula Santos and Caitlin Dube, the committee’s vice chair, initially prohibited the use of smart glasses, but its language was amended to include other “surreptitious recording devices,” like Apple watches.
A motion affirming the Massachusetts Protect Act, a statute aimed to protect students from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement( ICE) agents while at school, also passed unanimously. The motion mostly echoes state law, with additional requirements for staff training on interaction with anti-immigration officers.
The motion was amended to ensure it would not instruct district personnel to break the law if a student is arrested by an ICE officer on school grounds, a concern raised by Member Elizabeth Hudson. “I do have a real problem with us having policy that’s unclear and policy that creates potential liability,” Hudson said.
While the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting included an update on the vacant 158 Spring Street building, the topic was not discussed.
Another loose end is ongoing contract negotiations with the district’s largest labor union, members of which are currently working under expired contracts, an issue both Jaikumar and de Paula Santos referred to in interviews. While no contract with any of the Cambridge Education Association’s five bargaining units have been finalized, other groups have settled on agreements with the district. The food service workers contracts were officially approved at Tuesday’s meeting.
The meeting also featured a report from the student school committee representatives, Imme Goode and Maia Shen, at their first committee meeting. They primarily discussed college application season, adjustments to the district’s cell phone policy, and consent workshops aimed at sexual safety and appropriate “locker room talk” for student sports teams.
Tuesday’s meeting seems to have hit on what will be some of the main concerns of the school year, but Jaikumar said there are many things still left unaddressed, like the committee’s evaluation of the superintendent and the 158 Spring Street vacancy.
A stronger
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