The Cambridge School Committee has asked Superintendent David Murphy to clarify how high school attendance rules are applied and review a proposal to prohibit official social media accounts for school teams and extracurricular groups, according to Cambridge Day.
The two measures went to Murphy after Tuesday’s meeting, with attendance guidance expected back in about a month. The committee referred the social media proposal to him on a 4-3 vote for recommendations rather than adopting a prohibition.
The attendance discussion comes after a substantial decline in chronic absenteeism at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. The rate fell to 24% during the 2025-26 school year, down from a record 36% in 2024-25, Cambridge Day reported. The earlier figure was two percentage points above the preceding year and four points above 2022-23.
The high school’s attendance policy can deny course credit when students exceed limits on attendance violations. Although the rule was already in place, enforcement increased following a School Committee vote in September 2025.
A district presentation on Sept. 1 linked the improvement to several efforts: the possibility of losing credit, direct follow-up with selected students and communications aimed at their families. The presentation did not attribute the decline solely to stricter enforcement.
Questions about applying the rules
Tuesday’s debate centered on whether the district and high school were giving consistent explanations of the requirements. Vice Chair Caitlin Dube and the motion’s other sponsors raised concerns about differences between the district’s policy and the high school’s version, according to Cambridge Day.
Dube requested more precise guidance on how many attendance violations can trigger a loss of credit, how lateness factors into that calculation and what documentation is needed when an absence involves illness.
Murphy addressed the documentation question in an Oct. 19 memorandum and at the meeting. He said physician documentation is not mandatory for an absence to be excused, while also explaining that submitting a particular document does not automatically secure that designation. He acknowledged that some people at the high school had communicated a different requirement.
Committee member Elizabeth Hudson distinguished those implementation questions from the underlying policy, arguing that the problem did not necessarily require action by the policymaking body. A district spokesperson told Cambridge Day on Wednesday that the district would work to make its explanations consistent.
Access to activity information
The separate social media measure, introduced by Dube, would direct Murphy to develop rules barring official accounts maintained by high school sports teams and other extracurricular organizations. Her stated concern was ensuring that information about school-sponsored activities reaches students who do not use social media.
The proposal concerned those organizational accounts, rather than a general restriction on students’ personal social media use. The committee’s referral leaves the question pending Murphy’s recommendations.
What’s next: Murphy is expected to return with attendance clarifications after two committee meetings, approximately a month. The committee’s next scheduled session is a joint city budget discussion with the City Council on Oct. 26 at 4 p.m., according to Cambridge Day.
