Safety & Security

Fairfax County (Va.) district bans student cellphone use during most of school day

The board has approved a policy that prohibits cellphone use for elementary and middle school students, and severely restricts use for high school students.
June 17, 2022

Student use of cellphones in the Fairfax County (Va.) district will be banned in most places when classes resume later this summer break.

WTOP News reports that the Fairfax County School Board has voted 8-4 to ban cellphones during class and in bathrooms and locker rooms, other than for emergencies.

High schoolers will be allowed to use their phones in between classes and during lunch.

The changes adopted by the board will require students in kindergarten through sixth grade to have phones silenced and in backpacks during the school day. Items like smartwatches can be worn, but phone features would need to be turned off when phones are not allowed to be used. Phones and tablets also cannot be used in bathrooms or locker rooms.

For seventh- and eighth-graders, the same would apply, but phones can be stored in a locker backpack or pencil bag during the day.

For high school students, phones, phone accessories and smartwatches aren’t allowed during instructional periods.

MORE: Video from Fox 5 WTTG-TV:

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Mike Kennedy

Senior Editor

Mike Kennedy, senior editor, has written for AS&U on a wide range of educational issues since 1999.

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