Board adopts student personal‑device policy after debate over exceptions and homework access

The Port Washington Board of Education approved Policy 5695, Students and Personal Electronic Devices, at its Sept. 17 meeting after a lengthy discussion about the policy’s regulations and how exceptions for classroom use should work.

Board members raised concerns about redundancy with the district code of conduct, clarity of terms such as "educational purpose" and "instructional objective," and whether an approved exception could in practice restrict a student from doing coursework or homework outside a designated room. "This sentence basically forbids the student from doing their homework on their personal device in a class where an exception has been granted," Board member Deborah Brooks said during the discussion.

Administrators described the regulations as tools to ensure consistency and avoid unintended conflicts between staff and students. They said approved exceptions this year were limited to designated classrooms or approved periods so that staff could track who had permission to use a personal device for instructional needs. After discussion the board made a motion to adopt Policy 5695; the motion passed 7‑0.

Board members asked the administration to continue refining the regulations for clarity and to coordinate updates with the code of conduct and student handbooks. The administration said stakeholder input — including staff, parents and students — will continue to inform the implementation details.