During lunch at Unity Reed High School in Manassas, Virginia, senior Alaa Rashed often notices some of her friends calling their parents.
Usually, they’re coordinating with them or siblings to figure out who needs to be picked up and when. Another friend nearby, who has a job when the school day ends, hears from her boss around noon. He sometimes will ask her to come in an hour later or start her shift an hour early. After that communication, she begins prioritizing her after-school responsibilities.
The school division’s cellphone policy allows for that flexibility.
High schoolers are still allowed to use their cellphones before and after school, at lunch and between classes as part of a pilot program cracking down on device usage in Prince William County this fall.
Some students say the new rules eliminate distractions in class, helping them focus while offering enough freedom to communicate with others when necessary.
But as Virginia’s second-largest school system works toward crafting a cellphone policy that will go into effect on Jan. 1, those same students are fearful that the bell-to-bell ban that Virginia’s Department of Education is recommending would be too restrictive.
“We work with student senators from basically all high schools, and we have gotten feedback that students really like the policy that we have in place,” said Almudena Latorre, a senior at C.D. Hylton High School in Woodbridge. “However, we have gotten feedback, and we have done surveys that indicate that students would not be as happy with the bell-to-bell policy, just because of their concerns about fulfilling outside responsibilities and being able to reach the people that they need to in a timely manner.”
This fall, the school division launched a pilot program with different restrictions based on grade level. Middle schoolers have to turn their cellphones off and put them away for the day, and high schoolers have to put them away during instructional time. It marked a departure from the previous approach, which largely allowed school administrators and teachers to make the rules.
Eighteen out of 20 middle schools in the county already had the “off and away” cellphone policy, but rules varied in high schools.
At Unity Reed last year, Rashed said that if teachers saw phones out, students would put them in an envelope on their desks. However, some teachers didn’t adopt that policy, and students were still allowed to use their phones if they finished their assignments. But now, some teachers have pouches on the wall for phones, and others lock phones in a box.
Few students are critical of that approach, Latorre said.
“I have seen increased focus during classes, definitely,” Latorre said.
The consequences for violating the school division’s pilot policies are clear, according to Catherine Porter-Lucas, associate superintendent for middle schools.
For the first violation, the student has to surrender the device, and they get an acknowledgment form that reminds them of the rules. Then, they get the device back at the end of that class period. If they have their phone out during that same class, they give their phone up and it gets taken to and locked in the main office. They get it back at the end of the day, and a note is sent to their parent or guardian. A third offense leads to a referral, and students are required to take a healthy cellphone use course.
“We are seeing reports from students, from teachers, from administrators, saying that kids are more focused in class, and teachers feel like we’re very clear on the consequences for if students have their phones,” Porter-Lucas said.
The school system has a work group, which features students, parents, central office staff members and teachers, to help collect feedback and make recommendations to the school board for developing a policy. On Nov. 6, the group will share information on the pilot program, and Nov. 19, it’ll have a proposed policy.
A vote is scheduled for December, and the policy will be in effect Jan. 1.
In response to a directive from Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the Virginia Department of Education issued guidelines for cellphone policies that it’s expecting local school boards to adopt. They include a bell-to-bell ban, which would only allow high schoolers the chance to use their devices before or after school.
It’s unclear whether Prince William County’s policy will be that strict, or if there would be consequences for following the state guidance.
“Students basically understand the need for them to learn how to responsibly use their phones,” Latorre said. “However, they do believe that a bell-to-bell cellphone policy is not going to help them in the long run.”
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