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We now have a better idea of what the state is looking for from school districts, when it comes to building a ‘cell phone-free’ education. The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) released its draft guidance for districts late on Monday, Aug. 19, detailing both what they’ve heard from residents over the last month and what they want to see schools implement. 

This stems from an executive order, EO33, that Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued back on Tuesday, July 9. It calls for districts to provide a “cell phone-free education” to students. Now this doesn’t order an outright ban on phones or demand that any certain protocols be followed. Instead, it calls for communities to get involved and help design the rules they want to see. Over the last month, as the Dispatch reported, there were a series of listening sessions between VDOE officials and parents, teachers and administrators, with more than 600 people attending. The closest one to us was held in Keysville. And almost 1,500 more people submitted comments to the VDOE website. 

And from those hearings, VDOE officials say they came away with five points a majority of people want to see happen. First, parents and teachers alike want to see cell phones removed or at least limited at all levels. Second, at the same time, any students with documented medical issues need to be able to access the phone to receive alerts and otherwise use it as needed. Third, parents need to be able to stay in touch with students in case of both school-based and family-based emergencies. Fourth, teachers don’t want to constantly police their students and check for cell phones. And five, teachers want support and don’t want to be the only enforcers of their school’s cell policy. 

What is the ‘draft’ plan? 

The draft policy right now is just that, a very bare bones skeleton that each school district can build from. For elementary schools, if a parent decides their child needs to bring a cell phone to school, it must be stored, turned off and put away during class. It should also not be used in the school building or on school grounds. The middle school guidance is a bit different.

It says “students should not have an easily accessible cell phone or personal electronic communication device during the bell-to-bell school day.” In other words, students shouldn’t be able to grab a phone while the class is taking place. The ‘draft plan’ also asks school divisions to set up local policies to determine what that the final version looks like. For high school students, the same thing is suggested, in terms of taking cell phones away during classtime. Outside of instructional time at high school, students can use their cell phones wherever they want. 

For most of the districts in our region, however, none of this is new. For example, no cell phones in the classroom has been an already existing rule in Cumberland County. And Superintendent Chip Jones said they don’t have any issues, adding that the district staff is reviewing the draft sent out by the state. 

“Our high school principal has been doing a good job enforcing no cell phone in the classroom. The same goes for our middle school,” Jones said. “And at our elementary school, it hasn’t been a problem at all.” 

The same is true in Buckingham. In Prince Edward County, students can use phones in the school cafeteria during lunch. But once you enter class, they have to be put away and silenced. Will any of that change to match the draft plan? That’s up to the respective districts, which have to develop their own plan and submit it. 

Next steps for ‘cell phone-free education’?

Ok, schools have a rough draft in place to work from. What happens next? Now we get into the deadlines. All school districts must adapt the recommendations provided by the state and design their own cell phone-free education plan, which will be finished by Jan. 1, 2025. Youngkin orders that data from these adaptions be reviewed on a regular basis, to make changes as necessary. 

Each district’s policy, if it needs to be adopted or altered, would take effect in August of 2025.