Williston
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AUGUST 15, 2024
School district considers phone-free future
WILLISTON’S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1985
Bunting convenes committee on student use of phones
WWW.WILLISTONOBSERVER.COM
Incumbents hold the day
BY JASON STARR Observer staff Do phones and schools mix? Champlain Valley School District leaders may be leaning toward ‘no’ on that question. Under Interim Superintendent Adam Bunting, the district is convening a committee this school year to study the so-called “phone-free schools movement.” The committee, made up of teachers, parents, students and administrators, will make eventual recommendations to the school board about what the district’s cell phone policy should be for students. The district is currently without an over-arching policy, leaving it up to school principals to set standards. Williston Central School has an “away-forthe-day” standard, where students can bring phones to school but must keep them in bags or a school-provided locked location during the school day. “In order to maintain our learning environment, electronic games, cell phones, Airpods, smartwatches, etc. are not to be carried or used during the school day,” the grade 3-8 school’s handbook states. The policy gets looser as kids age into high school. CVU asks students to refrain from phone use during classroom time, but allows phone use in the cafeteria and library when students have unscheduled periods. “We have not attempted to mitigate cell phone use during those times yet,” Bunting said. “We want to learn more. The research is pretty clear about the impact of cell phone use and social media on student mental health, in addition to that, just the impact of distraction on our learners. It’s important for our learners to be present.” He said students can get derailed during the school day by a troubling text or social media message and have difficulty refocusing on academics. According to Erin Brady, Williston’s representative in the Legislature who serves as vice chair of the House Education Committee, teachers would welcome stricter phone use policies. Brady works see PHONES page 9
Nice weather greets voters Tuesday as they head in to the polls in Williston. Bottom right, voters place two unused ballots in a container. Bottom left, David Howell marks his ballot. OBSERVER PHOTOS BY AL FREY
OBSERVER STAFF REPORT In the only contested election Williston voters had to consider during Tuesday’s statewide Primary Election, incumbent State Senators Ginny Lyons, Kesha Ram Hinsdale and Thomas Chittenden outpaced challenger Louis Meyers for the three Democratic nominations in the Chittenden Southeast Senate District. Meyers received 12 percent of the roughly 23,000 votes cast over the 25-town district, according to results published Tuesday by the Vermont Secretary of State’s office. Lyons was the top vote-getter with about 27 percent; Chittenden got 25 percent and Ram Hinsdale got 24 percent. In Williston, a total of 1,455 voters (out of a voter roll of about 9,000) turned out for the election, the Town Clerk’s office reported. Voters could choose which party primary to participate in — Democratic, Republican or Progressive. For more primary election coverage, see Page 13-15.
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