As Arlington school leaders in coming months develop a permanent policy on phone-accessibility among students, they may in one instance have to decide whether to challenge the recently unveiled state-level guidance on the topic.
Those state rules, rolled out Sept. 17 and expected to be implemented by Virginia’s 130-plus school districts by the end of the year, are generally in line with a stopgap measure announced a month before by Arlington Superintendent Francisco Durán. But, as the superintendent acknowledged at the time, there was one significant area where they did not mesh.
The state policy would not allow high-school students to access phones during the “bell-to-bell” school day, but would allow them to be used before or after school. Durán’s directive allows high-schoolers to use their devices when not in a classroom setting, such as at lunch.
Attempting to find a path forward will be members of the county’s School Board, who anticipate finalizing a final policy for Arlington’s 28,000 students by the Dec. 31 deadline imposed by state officials.
The push for more limits on students’ use of electronic devices in Virginia schools came from Gov. Youngkin, who earlier this year issued an executive order directing the Virginia Department of Education to develop regulations. That effort drew nearly 6,000 public comments, state officials said.
Those state officials also touted a recent Washington Post-Schar School of Policy and Government poll, which showed a majority of Virginia parents of school-age children were supportive of the idea of keeping phones out of the hands of students throughout the school day, even outside of instructional time.
According to the new guidance (found at https://tinyurl.com/vdoeguidance2024) from state officials:
• If a parent determines an elementary student needs to bring a cell phone or personal electronic-communication device to school, it must be stored, off and away from the student during the school day. It should not be used in the school building or on the school grounds before or after school.
• In middle school, students should not have an easily available cell phone or personal electronic-communication device during the bell-to-bell school day. School divisions should establish local policies that determine cell phone and personal electronic-communication device use within the school building or on school grounds outside of bell-to-bell, including before and after school.
• In high school, students should not have an easily accessible cell phone or personal electronic-communication device during the bell-to-bell school day. Outside of the bell-to-bell instructional time, cell phones and personal electronic-communication devices may be used on a high-school campus before or after school.
