LS School Committee backs in-class phone caddies, with decision due within a week

SUDBURY — May 28, 2025 — Lincoln-Sudbury heads toward in-class phone caddies as parents press for Eid holiday. Superintendent/Principal Andrew Stephens told the LS School Committee on May 28 that a faculty survey of 124 responses favored a school-wide classroom caddy system 63-26 over a complete bell-to-bell ban, with 23 backing the status quo; a Yondr-style pouch ban would have cost $30,000–$40,000 every couple of years. Stephens said he will render a decision within a week, with a potential School Committee policy vote on the docket June 10. Member John J. Ryan, Jr. asked for explicit medical-device carveouts — "I control my hearing entirely with my iPhone" — and member Maura Carty pushed for state grants and a one-year data review. Sudbury parents Ashfak Punawala and Ahmed Fazly used public comment to ask the committee to recognize Eid as a district holiday, noting Eid al-Adha falls on Friday, June 6, a school day. Teacher librarians Paula Myers and Ellen Chu reported the library has logged 138,000-plus visits since September and warned that a federal executive order will cut Massachusetts-sponsored databases next year, with Boston Public Library — facing its own $500,000 cut — unable to fully backfill.