Headmaster Deborah Holman has announced that a two week trial period for the new technology policy will begin on Tuesday, May 7.

Legislature voted to approve the revised bill by a 24-1 margin on Thursday, April 11. Until the trial period begins, the rules of the former technology policy will still be in effect.

Rule 1.4: The Policy on Personal Electronic Devices, which was drafted by Legislature in mid-January and vetoed by Holman in early February, aims to liberalize the current technology policy by permitting the freer use of personal electronic devices and headphones throughout the school day.

“It has taken us longer than expected to get to a trial period, but I think we have a more thoughtful policy and pilot plan,” Holman said in an email to staff on April 2.

According to an email sent to staff on Feb. 1, Holman vetoed the bill “so that faculty and administrators at large could give feedback” before Rule 1.4 went into effect.

Junior Jonathan You, a legislator, said that the administration was in the process of privately amending the bill until Legislature met on April 11 to vote on the revised version.

According to the revised version of Rule 1.4, the bill aims to balance the “pervasiveness of technology in today’s world” with “a school culture that prioritizes human interaction.” All use of technology throughout the day must be silent, meaning that silent activities like texting in the hallways will be allowed. Technology use in specific classrooms is at each teacher’s discretion, and each teacher will inform students of their policy in writing. Talking on cellphones is not allowed anywhere in the building or in the quad; making phone calls is only permitted in the vestibule outside of the atrium at the main entrance. Students may not wear headphones in the building or in quad, and headphone use in classrooms is only allowed if a teacher or librarian has given permission.

According to Dean Melanee Alexander, a legislator, Holman’s veto on the bill was done in fairness to the adults in the building, giving staff time to “vet it.”

“I think both students and staff are looking for something different in terms of a technology policy, one that allows students to use their devices without staff feeling like they are in constant battle,” she said. “The trial period will give us a chance to try out our bill.”

Sophomore Katherine Brumberg, a legislator, said that it has at times been challenging to collaborate with faculty in reaching a final bill.

“We haven’t really gotten all that many updates since the veto,” she said. “We know that [Holman] vetoed it only to allow herself to bring it to other bodies, and we heard that there weren’t going to be any major changes to the bill. But we didn’t hear anything about what the final bill looked like [until the vote]. It was frustrating because until we saw the final bill, we didn’t know what we were dealing with.”

You also said that while some aspects of the process have been difficult for Legislature, others have been informative and enriching.

“It’s been somewhat frustrating to have to negotiate and compromise on our original plans for the bill, but overall it has been a good learning experience,” he said. “I think having to stand up for the students’ interests has really united us as student legislators, something that hasn’t happened much in the past.”

English Curriculum Coordinator Mary Burchenal said that she is looking forward to the pilot period.

“I’m excited to move beyond our current technology policy, which I feel is outdated,” Burchenal said. “I think the trial period is great because instead of just moving to something new, it engages everyone in the community and makes us all think about what the new policy means, how it works, and lets us weigh its pros and cons. It’s like an interactive way of making rules.”

Science teacher Briana Brown also said that she feels it is time to replace the current policy on technology.

“I think we clearly need a new electronics policy,” she said, “and trying it out to see the kinks before we implement it is a good idea.”

Holman and legislators have developed a list of indicators by which to judge the success of the new technology policy post-pilot, according to Rule 1.4. Indications of success include silent technology use, student respect for classroom technology policies and the no headphone policy, and no significant rise in reports of cheating, bullying, or other illegal uses of technology during the trial period. The success indicators, the clauses of Rule 1.4 and the consequences of breaking the new technology policy will be presented to the school during advisory assemblies on April 30.

Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator Gary Shiffman said that he hopes the experiences of both students and staff during the trial period will be examined in determining whether or not to permanently implement Rule 1.4.

“I look forward to seeing the results of the trial period,” Shiffman said. “I hope that we gather a lot of opinions, from students and staff, about operating under the new policy. I’d love to hear from students about whether they feel liberated or distracted under the new rules, and if they really think it’s better for them to have access to digital equipment all the time. And teachers need to reflect on how comfortable they are with students always having that access too.”

According to Alexander, the trial period will give the school a chance to evaluate the successes and failures of Rule 1.4. After the trial period, Legislature will “tweak” the bill based on staff and student experiences during the pilot and resubmit the bill to Holman for approval. Alexander said Legislature hopes to have the final technology bill by the end of this year.

You said that he feels that it is essential for the student body to prove that they can be responsible during the trial period in order to secure a new technology policy.

“This new bill grants more freedoms, but students must earn these freedoms and show the administration they deserve them,” You said. “We are entering a new era of technology and communication; we need an updated technology bill to reflect this. Some teachers are opposed to the bill because they think it will limit interpersonal interactions between students. We need to show them that we can handle the freedom without becoming robots chained to our mobile devices.”

Brumberg said that Legislature hopes that students will behave courteously and responsibly with the freer use of technology.

“We want to see students respect the environment of the school,” she said. “We are hoping that the hallways are not going to be any more crowded than they are now, with no one in the middle texting and blocking everyone. We also want students to follow [each teachers’] rules about technology in their classrooms.”

In an Info-Time announcement on Wednesday, April 3, Holman reiterated that the school’s current technology policy will remain in place until the trial period’s commencement in May.

“I’d like to remind to students that our original electronics policy is still in effect,” she said. “Until the pilot, we expect all students to abide by the current electronics policy rules: rules that every Brookline High student knows. If students are able to hold on in the month of April and follow our existing cell phone and headphone rules, I will allow us to try out this new, and hopefully improved, policy.”

Juliana Kaplan contributed to reporting.

Miriam El-Baz can be contacted at [email protected].