A bell-to-bell cell phone policy at the high school, a new method of evaluating principals, and a potential strategic plan partnership were all topics at the most recent Cambridge School Committee meeting.
At this meeting the committee also entertained a motion to hold back third-graders who lack reading proficiency, a motion which garnered an unusual number of public commenters and was ultimately deferred to subcommittee.
The cell phone policy shift likely will not be some students’ favorite, as the committee tightened the existing rules about cell phone use at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS), which some students already feel is too restrictive.
Starting last fall, CRLS students had to keep their phones in Yondr pouches, lockable devices designed to limit screen use. Students were allowed to unlock their phones during lunch period, often taken off campus.
The new policy no longer allows for exceptions for the lunch period. The more restrictive policy was put in place by the school after February break “to combat increasing phone usage noticed after lunchtimes,” said Zihaam Jama, CRLS senior and student member of the School Committee. She added, “Students are learning to adjust to the sudden change.”
While students were required to re-secure their phones in Yondr pouches after the lunch period, some students told Cambridge Day earlier this year that people were finding ways to get around the policy.
One way for CRLS seniors to pass the lunch period without their phones might be the class’s tradition of the “Spoon Game,” where seniors have to avoid being tagged by a spoon. Jama said this began last week.
360-degree view of principals
The committee also considered a motion to supplement traditional principal evaluations with 360-degree reviews, which include input from families, students and staff. The motion was put forward by Committee Members Elizabeth Hudson, Arjun Jaikumar and Richard Harding.
During discussion on the motion, the committee agreed that more voices should be heard in the evaluation of school leadership. Vice-chair Caitlin Dube said care should be taken to find “developmentally appropriate ways for students to give feedback.”
Superintendent Dave Murphy said he supported the motion but noted there are “legal and contractual” limitations the committee must consider. He also said, “there can be a highly effective principal who is unpopular amongst various constituencies,” so a 360 review must be “understood in the context of the complete evaluation and principal appointment process.”
The motion passed 6-0-1, with Chair David Weinstein voting present. At the meeting, Murphy confirmed 360 reviews will be effective immediately, and feedback will be used to inform the 2026-2027 school year.
Strategic plan discussed
The rest of Tuesday’s meeting focused on the district’s next four-year strategic plan, which will set objectives for student achievement and school operations. The plan’s outlines wre discussed at a February 6 retreat.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Murphy proposed the district partner with an outside consultant, Attuned Education Partners, to assist in developing the strategic plan. Attuned’s Chief Strategy Officer, former Boston Latin School principal Rachel Skerritt, attended the meeting and told the committee that it would help the district identify its “10-year aspirations,” work that would “inform some draft priorities and initiatives over a four-year plan.” Skerritt said.
Committee Member Hudson has been critical of time spent on developing a new plan. She argued that meetings should be focused on more specific initiatives, like developing policies around AI, elementary programming and what to do with the vacant 158 Spring Street facility (the former Kennedy-Longfellow School). “We have to decide by June what will go in the [building.] And we’ve had zero discussions about that, literally zero,” she said.
Member Harding agreed strategic plans can be disconnected from outcomes for students. “Oftentimes in these strategic plans, you’re talking broad platitudes,” Harding said. “No metrics, no numbers, no accountability, no timelines that are adhered to.”
But Committee Member and Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui said the district’s last strategic plan, adopted in 2022 under former Superintendent Victoria Greer’s administration, did have target outcomes. She requested that the committee evaluate if those targets were met when crafting the new plan.
Hudson said “outsourcing” the strategic plan is inefficient. “We could just sit here in one meeting and get it done,” Hudson said.
Murphy dispute this. “I wouldn’t say that the partnership with Attuned represents an outsourcing of our goal setting,” Murphy said. He added that it shows the process works to include community input. He also said strategic planning requires a “significant amount of work.”
Because Attuned’s work would be funded by the Cambridge Community Foundation, the organization that engaged in a two-year equity audit of the district, it does not require a committee vote, Murphy said. Nonetheless, he said he could discuss the plan in more detail at the committee’s next meeting.
Attuned Education Partners has yet to be officially hired by the district. It remains unclear if the organization will be hired and how such a decision will come to pass.
The committee will meet next on March 11 for a special meeting to discuss the FY 27 district budget, and again on March 17 for a public hearing on budget allocation and a regular meeting of the school committee.
A stronger
Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.
We are now a 501(c)3 nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
Please consider a recurring contribution.