By Nicole Asbury Washington Post Feb 22 2025
Montgomery County school leaders may decide this spring whether to ban cellphone use by all students during the day, saying a pilot requiring the devices to be stored in backpacks or pouches at 11 schools received mixed response.
Principals said they noticed a positive shift in student behavior — there was less conflict during the school day, and students were more open to talking during class. But school leaders said some students figured out ways to bypass the “away all day” rules, and a district survey showed that most students found the policies “too restrictive.” Some teachers also voiced frustration over the added workload of managing the ban.
“Restrictions are great, but we need to make sure that our schools are supported in how to implement those restrictions in a way that is useful and practical,” Stephanie Sheron, the district’s chief of strategic initiatives, told school board members Thursday.
Sheron said a finalized report evaluating the pilot will be released in early March, after which the district may update its cellphone policies.
The Montgomery school system — which is Maryland’s largest, with over 160,000 students — is one of several across the country considering more restrictions on cellphone use in schools to improve student productivity.
Recently, a D.C. Council member pitched a bill that would ban cellphones during the school day, and Virginia’s governor also has called for a “phone-free” education environment. More than a half dozen of the nation’s 20 largest school districts have imposed bans or are making plans to do so. Large municipalities such as Los Angeles and Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas, and governors in several states have pushed for restrictions on students’ personal devices.
In Maryland, 19 of the state’s 24 school districts recently updated their cellphone policies, and a handful of systemsalso implemented pilots that require students to put their phones awayduring theschool day. Last month, Howard County Public Schools passed a policy that requires all personal technology devices be “away and silenced”; it goes into effect in March.
Montgomery County Public Schools officials haven’t determined yet whether the district will pursue a full, all-day ban on personal devices.
Schools that participated in the district’s phone pilot in the fall had varying restrictions on the devices.
Christopher Nardi, principal of Thomas W. Pyle Middle School in Bethesda, said he noticed an uptick of students using their phones after schools returned to in-person learning after the pandemic. He surveyed staff members at the school last year, and 97 percent indicated that they would support an away-all-day policy because of how much of a problem cellphone use had become.
He then adopted a policy that banned phones during the day with some medical exceptions; for example, students with diabetes were allowed to have their device if they used it to monitor their blood sugar.
“I was amazed by how few phones we had as we really kind of implemented this,” Nardi said of the policy change. “We’ve had virtually none.”
Montgomery County’s pilot mostly included middle schools, but one high school — Rockville High School — participated. Principal Rhoshanda Pyles saidthe school required cellphones to be out of sight and placed in backpacks or purses from when the tardy bell rings in the morninguntil dismissalin the afternoon.
She said students have adhered to the policy; only 168 of the school’s roughly 1,500students have needed to have their phones stowed in pouches because they weren’t following the policy, Pyles said. Only 39 of those students received office referrals.
Thursday’s meeting in Montgomery came amid broader conversations across Maryland about restricting cellphone use. Several state lawmakers have proposed bills, including one that would allow students to use devices during lunch time. Another bill would offer different restrictions for middle or high school students. Meanwhile, Carey Wright, the state’s schools superintendent, assembled a task force that is reviewing phone policies, and it is expected to issue guidance for districts this spring. Montgomery County Schools Superintendent Thomas Taylor is a part of the task force.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2025/02/22/montgomery-county-schools-cellphone-ban/