WORCESTER, Mass. — Summer vacation is coming to a close for students in the Worcester Public Schools, and the district is ringing in the new school year with a new cellphone policy.

Starting this year, cellphones must be turned off or silenced, and out of sight in the classroom. Students will only be able to use their phones for educational purposes only when approved by an educator.

Opponents of the new policy, which includes some teachers, believe it's not strict enough when it comes to addressing distractions for students. 

Superintendent Rachel Monárrez recently spoke about the issue while touring the new Doherty High School.

"We are not banning them from being on campus," Monárrez said. "We're just saying there is a time and place by which you use a cellphone and there's times when we put them away and we really believe that it's our responsibility to teach our youth how to use cellphones appropriately. So when they go into the workforce, they too are using them appropriately. You use them for this. You put them away at other times. And so we want to teach them how to do that."

The policy also applies to the use of earbuds, cameras and other forms of technology.