Students across Orange County will see limited use of their phones this upcoming academic year as school districts throughout the county adopt rules to meet a new state law aimed at limiting the devices during school hours.
It’s called Assembly Bill 3216, also known as the Phone-Free School Act, which required every California school district, charter school and county office of education to develop and adopt a policy that limits the student use of phones on campus by July 1 and update it every five years.
Editors’ Note: This dispatch is part of the Voice of OC Collegiate News Service, working with student journalists to cover public policy issues across Orange County. If you would like to submit your own student media project related to Orange County civics or if you have any response to this work, contact admin@voiceofoc.org.
Schools can accomplish this in any way they deem appropriate.
So far, districts are looking to handle regulation through wall-mounted phone holders, confiscating devices or simply directing students to put their phones away.
Some schools are also using Yondr pouches — magnetized pockets for students’ phones that lock using a special device. The Newport-Mesa Unified School District started using Yondr pouches in all its middle schools last academic year.
The legislature allows for districts and schools to decide what kind of restrictions they want to adopt, based on the curriculum, culture and style of the school.
The differences between policies implemented throughout Orange County’s various districts are limited and vary mostly in the wording and specifics of regulation and enforcement. Each district has the power to determine what is necessary for its students, as long as it is generally limiting smartphone usage throughout schools.
Supporters of the bill argue the policies will encourage and promote student participation during the school day by supporting student mental health and fostering a distraction-free learning environment.
“The law recognizes that excessive smartphone use is impacting student learning and empowers school districts to implement solutions. By design, the law gives school districts flexibility to develop policies that meet the needs of their local communities,” said Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, the bill’s co-author, in a statement sent to Voice of OC.
“Moreover, this approach recognizes that there is no one-size-fits-all law and that different schools will realistically have different capabilities in their ability to enforce these policies.”
The bill was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 23, 2024.
Most School Districts Adopt Similar Phone Policies
Most Orange County unified school districts adopted similar smartphone policies that came from a template created by the California School Boards Association.
Los Alamitos, Brea Olinda, Orange, Saddleback Valley and Capistrano Unified School Districts modified, updated and adopted their versions of this policy that limits cellphone usage during instruction hours for certain grades.
While it doesn’t explicitly say how to curb cell phone usage, the template generally limits smartphone usage for all students for the entire school day — except high school students, who can use phones during lunch, breaks and other non-instructional hours.
Santa Ana, Tustin, Laguna Beach Newport-Mesa and Irvine Unified School District and Fullerton Joint and Huntington Beach Unified School District already had their own versions of this policy in place.
While other schools have variations of this policy, the overarching theme stays the same: high school students are allowed access to cellphones during non-instructional hours, while elementary and middle school students are not.
That means high school students can go on their phones outside of class during school, but all other grades are restricted from using the devices for the whole school day. Students are also prohibited from using their smartphones during class.
More specific details still depend on the specific school district.
For the Brea Olinda Unified School District, under their policy, students in preschool, elementary and middle school students “shall not use smartphones or other mobile communication devices while at a school site or under the supervision and control of a district employee.”
High school students in the district may use phones “on campus during noninstructional time as long as the device is utilized in accordance with law and any applicable school rules.”
There are exceptions in place for emergencies and other school-sanctioned activities.
“Exceptions are also provided for emergencies, school-directed instructional activities, and other circumstances permitted by law,” Orange Unified School District spokesperson Jacqueline Perez-Chaidez wrote in an email about their policy. “In addition, schools will continue to maintain established procedures to ensure students can communicate with parents or guardians during the school day when needed.”
Similar rules apply to other districts, with major exceptions including emergencies, medical needs, disability accommodations and others.
The Irvine Unified School District had a discussion about the policy during a public meeting on April 21. During that meeting, School Board Member Katie McEwen emphasized the importance of making sure students are paying attention in class.
“Those instructional minutes are gold, and we really need to focus on protecting those and not having these phones out at all,” she said at the meeting.
Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District implemented a similar policy, which states that elementary and middle school students must turn off devices at school, while high school students are permitted to use them outside of class.
Garden Grove Unified School District was also already under compliance with the law and will not be changing or updating their policy, under which phones should be turned off in class for all grade levels.
Anaheim Union High School District prohibits middle school phone usage completely and limits high school phone usage to passing period and lunch only.
Anaheim Elementary School District prohibits students using phones completely during the school day.
Critics Point to Excess Legislation and Enforcement
In 2024 bill analyses, the California School Boards Association (CSBA) raised concerns regarding enforcement of the bill and how it would impact districts, pointing out that districts are diverse and are able to address smartphones themselves.
“CSBA opposes this measure as districts already have the ability to address smartphones. This bill limits the decision-making authority of the governing board as they would now have to adopt a policy, even if, through local community meetings, it was found that there was no need to limit/prohibit the usage,” representatives said in a comment on the bill.
Others are concerned about exigent circumstances. During emergencies, students are to be allowed access to their cellphones but are encouraged to prioritize instructions from their supervisors. Parents are advised to call the main office instead of reaching out to their child.
Under the law, kids should be able to contact who they need to during emergencies — but critics say there is no guarantee that they will be able to get access to their phone in time if it is stored somewhere inaccessible.
A poll conducted by the National Parents Union found that overall 76% of parents of public school students say their child takes their cell phone to school. Of those parents, 78% said their child brings a phone to school in case of an emergency.
“When there are emergencies at school, being able to directly communicate with your child to ensure they are safe is critically important and too often schools are dropping the ball on effective communication,” Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union, said in a statement posted on the organization’s website.
“Cell phone bans fail to take into consideration the tragic, real-life scenarios that unfortunately play out all too often in schools.”
While some parents expressed concern for the statewide phone limitation, many teachers agree that the bill will help the learning environment as a whole.
“Cellphone use in classrooms is a significant distraction in schools and classrooms,” the California Teachers Association said in a comment on the bill. “Mobile device use in the classroom can be both distracting and harmful based on students’ urge to text or check notifications as they pop up on the screen, off task behaviors or academic dishonesty.
Collegiate News Service Editor Angelina Hicks contributed to this report.
