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Following Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s July 9 issuance of Executive Order 33, which aims to establish cellphone-free education to “promote the health and safety of Virginia’s K-12 students,” the Virginia Department of Education has released the final guidance for cellphone-free education for Virginia K-12 public schools.

In a Sept. 17 press release from VDOE, it details that cellphone-free education in Virginia public schools are “bell-to-bell,” meaning that phones are to be turned off and stored away from the first school day bell of instruction until the dismissal bell. “Bell-to-bell” also includes lunch and time in-between class periods. The department says they have received “nearly 6,000 public comments and feedback” which included 21 stakeholder convenings and public Commonwealth Conversations with over 1,160 Virginians. In a statement, Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Coons thanked families, educators and students for their input.

“Virginians helped us shape the final guidance and our implementation supports. We look forward to continuing to work with families and educators as we help ensure that every student can have a Cell Phone-Free Education,” Coons said.

Prior to the VDOE release, Suffolk School Board began discussions for its cellphone free education within Suffolk Public Schools during their Thursday, Sept. 12 board meeting at City Hall. 

“In plain layman’s terms, basically stating that all school divisions of Virginia must have a cell phone free policy in place by Jan. 1, 2025,” Gordon said. “It’s going to be our goal for the board to be able to develop some things, hopefully with an action item at the November school meeting so we can use the rest of November and the first couple of weeks of December to be able alert our school community to any potential changes that would occur so that they would have one month preparation before they return after winter break.”

Gordon discussed the Region II cell phone practices, with SPS planning to be in place and go into effect when students return from winter break. 

“Dr. [Stenette] Byrd has put a synopsis for each of the three levels: elementary are not allowed unless a parent completes a form and must stay in a bookbag and out of sight. Middle must stay in a bookbag and out of sight. High School can be used during non-class times; use in the classroom is at the teacher’s discretion,” Gordon said. “You will also find two-sided cellphone signs throughout the schools that says ‘Cellphone Allowed’ and ‘Cellphone Away.’”

Before the board discussion, Gordon stated that any changes in the cellphone policy will “mainly affect the High School level.”

When SPS Board Vice Chair Heather S. Howell asked for clarification planning for “no change – planning for a January 25 revision,” Gordon provided details.

“So right now it says 2024-25 status. So some schools that are already put into place, when Executive Order 33 came out, that they would have no cellphones when schools started. Because this is 2024-25 status, the part of the reason why Dr. Byrd has listed it at this time, we don’t have a change, but we’re planning for a change in January 2025.”

When School Board Member Kimberly Slingluff asked if teachers will have training to know how to respond to insubordination from students, Gordon says that they are already prepared for this.

“As you see in that column for high schools, [it] has already been at the teacher’s discretion and cellphone violations are already a part of the discipline matrix, so nothing would change as far as the process on the school administration’s end on how they would handle it,” he said. “The biggest change would occur with students are understanding that a new practice is in place.”

When Riddick asked how many disciplinary incidents were collected last school year, SPS Chief of Administrative Services Dr. Rodney J. Brown that 64 total cellphone violations were reported for the 2023-24 school year. Gordon further stated that when a student refuses to put their cellphone away when out in class, it would be classified as insubordination instead of a cellphone violation. Slingluff brought up the importance of parental support for the policy to be successful, noting that a public hearing should be held before the rollout of the policy so that parents can be heard and informed on how to contact their kids.

“So their anxieties, their concerns, because a lot of it is fear-based and needs to be communicated, so that we as a school system can hear what the parents apprehensions are so that we can address it, assure them where they need to be assured and take into consideration things we haven’t taken into consideration,” Slingluff said. “…I think we can’t over emphasize that communication, communication, communication, is key in this.”

School Board Member Dr. Judith Brooks-Buck followed that Slingluff had “excellent ideas” and encouraged her to submit them for further policy discussion. School Board Chair Karen Jenkins ended the discussion expressing the importance of holding parents accountable to the policy as well.

“…Because we’re trying to do what’s best for their children to make sure that they have a great learning experience,” Jenkins said. “So they have to be held accountable, make sure they know what the policy is back-and-forth so they can’t say they don’t know, and to make sure if we need signatures for everything, if they want their children to follow the policy, we need their signature as well. Not their child signature, but their signature.”

SPS will likely have more discussions on the policy given the final guidance provided by VDOE.