Bernards Township leaders defend phone‑free approach, launch 'Talk' push to improve student online speech

Bernards Township School District officials outlined a multi‑year effort to curb distracting device use and improve student interactions, saying the approach combines a phone‑free policy, classroom practices and community outreach.

"We made a decision to go phone free," said Russ Lazik, principal, describing a rollout that followed months of planning and practice with parents, students and staff. He said the district has been operating under phone‑free rules for K–8 and has extended a phone‑free approach at the high school, and estimated that "90% or more of our kids are off their phones 90% or more of the time" during instructional periods.

The district framed the work under a "restoring focus" collaborative that predates the pandemic but accelerated as districts adopted one‑to‑one device programs. Leaders described complementary efforts including the Hello Project, which encourages students to initiate in‑person conversations, and a HO project designed to have students talk with unfamiliar peers to rebuild social skills.

Sher Howard, an assistant principal who helped lead the "Talk" committee, said the initiative targets online speech. "We really want to dive down into how they're speaking to one another, specifically online through chats, group chats, comments on social media posts," she said, arguing much derogatory or inappropriate language is "hidden behind the screen."

District leaders tied those behavior efforts to staff professional development: they said the entire K–12 staff completed training on consistent language and approaches for integrating AI and teaching digital‑age social skills.

The district invited community feedback through tabletop discussions during the session and through upcoming surveys. Leaders said compiled notes and the presentation will be posted online and that a related elementary event focused on a "wait until 8th" pledge is scheduled for May 20 at Cedar Hill.

The meeting closed with an appeal to families to partner with schools, and with administrators emphasizing that school rules alone cannot effect cultural change at home.

Next steps: the district will post the session materials and the compiled AI‑assisted summaries of table responses, and promised to use survey and table feedback to inform the next phase of its tech plan.