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While each Virginia school district will be allowed to build their own “cell phone-free” education plan, state officials rolled out some expectations this week that they want considered. Outlines for elementary, middle and high schools were issued Tuesday, Sept. 17, making it clear that districts will be expected to restrict, if not outright ban phones in some cases. 

The outlines were created after a series of meetings with residents, teachers and school staff around the state. The closest nearby meeting was in Keysville. There was also a digital meeting where some Prince Edward and Buckingham educators and parents attended. Officials from the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) said after going through this, they felt the outlines should stem from a “bell-to-bell” ban on phone use in most 

A “bell-to-bell” ban would mean exactly that, no cell phone use for students from the start to the end of the school day. VDOE officials in the report said they learned from the meetings that teachers want a ban to be able to focus on teaching and not just discipline. Parents want kids to have to put down the phones and develop critical communication skills. Everyone agreed that they want phones to be put away to avoid the drama caused by cell phones, from texts and sharing comments.

One example given was the school threats over the last two weeks, which partly stemmed from students seeing months or years-old posts. They reshared the posts and started telling friends these posts were meant for local schools, both here and around the Commonwealth, as well as around the Southeast. It turned into a social trend, limiting the teaching that could take place, as some districts allowed for excused absences if students or their parents didn’t feel safe. The result led to classrooms in several schools nearly empty, with 7 or 8 students instead of the 28 normally in. 

Banning phones during the school day, state officials argued, could put a halt or at least slow down situations like this, giving district staff the time to learn what’s going on and get ahead of it. 

Breaking down the cell phone-free data 

Now before we go into what the state outline says, we need to make one thing clear. This does not ban cell phone use in schools. It also doesn’t require that districts follow all or any of the outlines given here. For each level, it’s meant to be laid out as a guideline, a menu that districts can pull from if need be, to build their own policy. 

This all 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. 

As mentioned, the outlines are split into three groups; elementary, middle and high school.

Elementary 

State officials want to ban all cell phone use by elementary students, both within the school building and on school grounds. If a parent decides that a student needs a cell phone for whatever reason, VDOE officials argue that phone needs to be turned off and stored away during the school day. State officials also argue that rather than call or text a student’s cell phone, the parent needs to call the office if they need to reach their child during the school day. 

Middle School 

So what about middle school students? The same applies in many cases. State officials want cell phones banned during the school day, but if a parent decides a student must have one, that phone needs to be turned off. VDOE officials also suggest that school officials stop using social media apps to announce changes, post schedules or release any information. They suggest that all districts build their own apps, so only the school district’s information is available. And since many districts use apps for in-class projects, the state suggests to avoid using anything that has social media or internet capability, where students can share, talk or text, with each other or people outside of school. 

High School 

The high school outline is pretty much the same as the middle school, but with one change. Outside of the instructional time, students in high school can use cell phones and other personal electronic devices on campus, either before or after school. 

A cell phone-free lunch? 

One of the thing parents and students from all three groups asked about was the ability to use phones during lunch hours. VDOE officials said students need to be developing social skills, not hiding behind a phone, at lunch. 

“Many students wrote in asking to use their phones during lunch hours,” the report states. “However, research shows students receive more than 200 notifications a day on their smartphones and two-thirds of U.S. students report being distracted by using digital devices. It is essential that students have the opportunity to develop face-to-face conversations and develop critical in-person communication skills during unstructured school hours.” 

What happens next? 

Now for the districts in our region, nothing really would change by following these guidelines. 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. 

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. 

Ok, schools have an outline 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.