Wilmington School Committee Advances Cell Phone Blocking App for Fall Pilot

WILMINGTON — April 29, 2026 — Wilmington School Committee moves toward a software-based cell phone ban for the 2026-27 school year. The committee received a working group recommendation on April 29 to pilot the Doorman application in grades 6 through 12, which blocks social media, messaging apps, and notifications on student phones during school hours at a projected cost of roughly $7,000 for both the middle and high school. The recommendation came as the Massachusetts House had just passed a bell-to-bell phone ban bill on April 8. Member Rich Turner pressed for a full review of the company's licensing terms before any vote, warning "once you have an app on your phone, it can do a lot of things," while Superintendent Glen Thompson noted that any vendor must sign a student privacy agreement under federal law. The committee also heard results from the 2025 Youth Health Survey, finding that high school lifetime substance use has fallen by more than 50 percent since 2019 but that LGBTQ-plus and transgender and gender diverse students face bullying at rates more than twice the district average, with significantly higher rates of depression and suicidal ideation. A formal vote on the cell phone application is expected at the May 13 meeting.