New mobile phone policies are going into effect in Arlington Public Schools for the upcoming school year.
After a unanimous Arlington School Board vote yesterday (Thursday), high school students will be required to turn off their cellphones during class and elementary and middle school students will have to keep them off for the entire day.
This is a temporary policy. Superintendent Francisco Durán is expected to propose a permanent policy on cellphone restrictions in November, with a School Board vote anticipated in December, per an APS staff presentation.
Although the public was not given the opportunity to comment on the temporary policy, parents, faculty, residents and other stakeholders will be able to provide feedback on the permanent policy once it is revealed.
“We’ve been hearing feedback from parents, a lot of feedback from teachers, about the distraction that [phone usage] has caused,” Durán told ARLnow during a luncheon prior to the school board’s Aug. 15 meeting. “We’ve been following the research around mental health for students, and also the distraction to learn… So we were already on track.”
Under the approved changes to the APS technology policy, elementary and middle school students will be required to keep their phones off and in their backpacks or elsewhere in the classroom, district officials said. High school students only need to power down and store away their devices during class time and will be allowed to use them during non-instructional periods like lunch.
Exceptions to this policy will be made for students with disabilities, 504 plans, or specific medical needs that require access to electronics. The policy also allows teachers, administrators, and staff to give students permission to use phones and other electronics “when appropriate for a specific instructional purpose.”
This change follows a significant push from Arlington Parents for Education to introduce more stringent technology policies at APS. The group has advocated for an “away for the day” policy of having all students stow cellphones in lockers during the day, with limited exceptions.
Meanwhile, Claire Noakes, president of the Arlington County Council of PTAs, has argued that adopting a short-term policy without thorough community engagement would set an “atrocious precedent.”
The update follows Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order issued last month, which directs the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to set guidelines for school divisions, mandating a ban on student cellphone use during class hours for all grade levels.
At the board’s Aug. 1 meeting, School Board Chair Mary Kadera, who was absent from Thursday’s meeting, said she believes that the rollout of the temporary policy will assist school officials in formulating a permanent policy.
“The lessons that we learn from the implementation are things that we can then fold into the development of the permanent policy,” Kadera said.
While educational staff have restricted cellphone use in the past, the rules varied from school to school. The new policy is intended to unify Arlington schools and ensure that students are held to the same standards and expectations.
“So a lot of what I just shared, though, is something that schools have already been doing for quite some time,” Durán said at the luncheon. “It’s just now codifying it in a way that is the school system saying that.”
APS is not alone in implementing a new temporary policy for the upcoming school year. Starting next week, select middle and high schools across Fairfax County will participate in a new phone-free pilot program that requires students to secure their cellphones in magnetically sealed pouches or lockers during class to reduce distractions.
APS is “currently exploring the possibility” of conducting a similar pilot program at three to four secondary schools across the division, Durán said at Thursday’s meeting.
Durán noted that while the temporary policy was developed around the same time as Youngkin’s executive order, the school system had already begun formulating the policy earlier in response to extensive community feedback.
Ahead of Thursday’s School Board vote, the VDOE released draft guidance calling for a ‘bell-to-bell’ policy that requires phones to be powered down and stored for all grade levels.
While the temporary APS policy matches the state’s guidance for elementary and middle school students, it contrasts with the state’s recommendations for high schoolers, who can still access their phones during non-instructional periods.
“That’s something we will have to look at,” Durán said.
The VDOE plans to gather feedback on its draft guidance and release the final version on Monday, Sept. 16. Virginia schools must implement cellphone policies aligned with the new guidance by Jan. 1, 2025, a timeline school officials are confident they can meet.
“If there’s something that we’re working in on our [permanent policy] draft that is not going to meet the requirement, we’ll still have time to do it because we won’t pass it until December,” Durán said.
