Stricter Cell Phone Policy For Students Approved At Loudoun County Schools

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — Using a cell phone during the school day will become more difficult for Loudoun County Public Schools students under a new policy taking effect in the next school year.

On Tuesday, the Loudoun County School Board approved a new policy to set standards on where cell phones can be kept during the school day. The policy states elementary school students cannot use personal devices during the school day, and middle school students must keep devices silent and away in lockers. For high school students, devices must be in a classroom storage location but not on them or in their backpacks.

Other Northern Virginia school districts have adopted or considered similar policies restricting students' cell phone use during school, according to DC News Now.

Aaron Smith, the chief technology officer for the Department of Digital Innovation at LCPS, said the policy does not apply to devices LCPS issues for student learning or personal technology for a medical need with documentation like an IEP or 504 plan. Under the policy, high school students could only use devices during non-class times by specific instruction from school administration. Teachers may also get approval from school administration for students to use personal devices for class activities.

The proposal had drawn hundreds of comments from the community. After parent feedback, the policy was updated to exclude smartwatches as long as it doesn't cause a distraction in class. Parents shared that they may use smartwatches for tracking their child or for the child to track personal fitness.

School Board members were supportive of the more restrictive policy on cell phones in school.

At-large representative Anne Donohue introduced an amendment to not allow high school students to place devices in their backpacks during class. The amendment, which the School Board voted to adopt, stipulated that high school students had to put devices in a classroom storage location.

Donohue said the amendment was a result of a discussion with some high school students that already see cell phone restrictions during class time.

"The feedback from the students that I had the opportunity to speak with was very positive and encouraging, that the students appreciated the way in which the having the devices out of the classroom allowed everyone to be more engaged and more focused on the learning and more connected with each other," said Donohue. "When asked what maybe was not working with the policy, their feedback was if the devices are allowed to be in a student's pocket or backpack, the students have a hard time refraining restraining themselves from checking it if it's within reach, which I understand, because as an adult, I struggle with that also."

Algonkian District representative April Chandler shared a secondary level teacher's experience with students using cell phones being disengaged during a student's class presentation.

"Of the 15 students in the class...nine of the students in the lesson were on their phones, completely disengaged, and most had their AirPods in their ears," said Chandler. "So it's not as if the students were checking texts or looking up the meaning of a word, they were actively not listening, and may have even been watching something on their phones. It this issue is a complete disrespect. It shows a great deal of apathy, not just toward the teachers and the peer their peers in the classroom, but also towards their grades, given that it was a graded assignment, and this is very socially isolating."

School Board members acknowledged the policy would be an adjustment in the new school year.

Chandler expressed a desire for a "more consistent, concrete plan" on device storage locations in classrooms. She said only some schools have lockers, and some allow backpacks in classrooms.

"We will have the ability to make adjustments as we see what works over the course of implementing this policy at the beginning of the year next year," said Chandler. "I would like to acknowledge and ask the community to please work together to make this policy successful. It will take all of us. It will take parents, it will take teachers. It will take principals to support our students through this change. It might not be easy, but I believe the results will be well worth the effort."

"We're going to have to work together," added Leesburg District representative Lauren Shernoff. "We're going to have this is a work in progress. This is something new, and change can be hard. But I think the bigger benefit here and the bigger goal is that kids are not tempted away from the valuable instruction that is happening in the classroom and that they can be fully connected to focusing on their academics and the learning."