PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The School Committee has tightened the district's cell phone regulations but some recognize that it may not be enough.

On Wednesday, a revised policy was passed that holds students' phones in the main office on a second infraction.  By the fourth, the student is assigned Restorative In-School Education (RISE) and a caregiver must pick up the device.

A tiered cell phone policy was accepted last summer and after more than 6,300 infractions occurred in the subsequent school year, administrators went back to the drawing board.

Over the past month, teachers, families, and committee members helped inform a refined policy that interim Assistant Superintendent of Instruction, Assessment, and Education Engagement Matthew Bishop described as an "intermediary step."

"We knew we have to make this much more simpler than it's been and there's been, in some ways, multiple pathways and write-ups and warnings before we really get to any resolution," he said. "So we've really simplified this to basically just four infractions if you will."

While the policy was unanimously approved, some committee members feel it is too lenient and will not yield desired results. Superintendent Joseph Curtis agreed to update the panel regularly on its implementation and give a formal update in the winter so there will be time to re-evaluate before the next school year, if necessary.

"At each level of school, there were three tiers with a number of warnings, discussion points, etc. and I would argue that there was just too much of that," he said about the previous regulations.  

"And tracking that for our administrators when there could be a point where a student would receive 10 warnings or write-ups or calls home or what have you, it's just too much to manage."