Shawsheen Tech Bans In-Class Cell Phones, Approves $40 Laptop Insurance Fee

BILLERICA -- May 23, 2023, Shawsheen Tech School Committee approved a revised student handbook restricting cell phone use and adding a $40 annual device fee at its May 23 meeting. Under the new cell phone policy, effective September 2023, students at the one-to-one device school may only use personal phones before and after school and during lunch, a response to sustained complaints from cooperative-education employers and evidence linking in-school phone use to student conflicts. The committee voted unanimously to add a $40 annual technology insurance fee for school-issued laptops, which will flow into a revolving account to offset roughly $85,000 in annual device repair costs; a first accidental break carries no additional charge, a second incident requires families to pay half the replacement cost, and a third requires full replacement at an estimated $800 per device. The committee also unanimously approved a mobile veteran-designated parking space proposed by ninth-grade civics students and cleared the 2023-2024 school calendar, with one early-release date flagged as pending SkillsUSA confirmation.