Montgomery County Public Schools will be updating their current cellphone policy by the next school year, but officials are still studying potential changes in a pilot program at 11 schools, including RICA, a special education school with day and residential programs.
According to data presented at the Montgomery County Board of Education meeting Thursday, the school system will “collaborate and communicate” with unions, staff, students and parents from now until April. Then, the policy could be revised and made available for additional “stakeholder feedback” between April and May. Finally in May, the regulations would be updated for the upcoming 2025-26 school year.
According to information compiled so far, principals, teachers and students in schools where restrictions are being tested, agreed there has been improved classroom focus, more student engagement and fewer distractions. But all three groups agree that students can be “clever” in bypassing restrictions, and students said not having their phones available could make them feel more anxious and, at times, lonely.
Principals noted that teachers often feel frustrated at the added tasks related to managing the phone policy, and teachers said there is sometimes inconsistent enforcement and accountability.
Pilot schools react: Rockville High School
Rockville High School principal Rhoshanda Pyles told the school board she worked closely with students and teachers to find a system that would work for everyone.
They came up with a bell-to-bell system where students don’t have to surrender their phones.
“Students are expected to keep their cellphones out of sight in a backpack, a purse or a bag from the time the tardy bell rings until the dismissal bell,” Pyles said. The restrictions, she added, include all “PMDs,” or personal mobile devices, such as phones, earbuds, headphones and smart watches.
When students violate the policy, they may find themselves getting “pouched” — having their phones placed in a “Safe Pouch” and locked for either a single period or for an entire day until they are unlocked and returned to the students.
Pyles was eager to try the pilot program at her school, saying teachers had complained, “Students were disengaged, students were not talking in class,” and the disruptions were nearly constant.
So far, Pyles said, students have done “a really nice job. We’ve only ‘pouched,’ since Oct. 21, 168 students out of 1,563.”
Pyles said the reaction has been positive: “They’ll admit that having that cellphone away during class time has allowed them to be more engaged in what’s going on in the classroom.”
Middle School experience: Thomas Pyle Middle School
At Thomas Pyle Middle School, Principal Chris Nardi told board members, “We explained that the expectation was the cellphone would be out of sight from the start of the day to the end of the day.”
Nardi explained that letting kids break out their phones during the day was ruled out.
“We felt that giving times in between started to create gray areas,” he said.
Kids who violated the policy would find their devices taken to the main office.
“We have a cellphone jail,” Nardi said. “By the third instance, parents would be asked to pick it up.”
And in cases of repeated violations of the policy, Nardi said a student could be told to check their phone in with either their counselor or an administrator each day.
“The number that we got to that point is almost zero,” Nardi said.
At one point during the hearing, Nardi looked around and said he was probably the oldest person in the room, and that there is an entire generation of people who have never come into contact with a land line phone.
When students do need to make a phone call during the day, Nardi said, they can use a land line in the administrative office. But the literal digital divide was made clear, he said, when he noted cases like this one: “I watched a child pick up the land line,” and mimicking the student holding the receiver to his ear, Nardi imitated the student saying, “Call Mom.”
As board members laughed, Nardi said, he told the student, “No, you have to dial … hold on a second,” and relayed how he had to show the student what to do.
“On a personal note, I think every kid ought to have a flip phone,” Nardi said. “Because one of the biggest things we run into is impulsivity, and when you have to think and hit the number 7 four times before you get to the letter ‘S’ to say your friend is a stinker,” that slows things down.
The 11 schools participating in the pilot program include:
- Rockville High School
- Benjamin Banneker Middle School
- Eastern Middle School
- Gaithersburg Middle School
- Lakelands Park Middle School
- Montgomery Village Middle School
- Thomas W. Pyle Middle School
- Odessa Shannon Middle School
- Silver Creek Middle School
- Takoma Park Middle School
- RICA
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