Following steps taken last week by Los Angeles Unified School District to ban cellphone use during the school day, the move to more tightly restrict the devices for all California students is gaining momentum.
Local school districts that allow the use of phones on campus face a similar reckoning with students’ ability to focus in the digital age.
On June 18, the LAUSD school board voted 5-2 to formulate a no-phone policy beginning in January 2025. That same day, Gov. Gavin Newsom expressed support for statewide legislation to get smartphones out of students’ hands.
“As the Surgeon General affirmed, social media is harming the mental health of our youth,” Newsom said. “Building on legislation I signed in 2019, I look forward to working with the Legislature to restrict the use of smartphones during the school day.”
It was that 2019 law that empowered school districts to limit or ban smartphone use by students, but now Newsom evidently wants to go further, applying the new approach taken by California’s largest school district statewide.
In approving the ban, LAUSD board members described cellphone use at schools in dystopian terms.
“It’s gotten to the point that students don’t talk face-to-face, but instead text one another when they’re sitting right next to each other!” said President Jackie Goldberg. Board member Kelly Gonez called attention in particular to “the addictive qualities of social media.”
Dan Stepenosky, superintendent of the Las Virgenes Unified School District, was more measured on the subject of cellphones.
“Our Safety and Wellness Committee has been exploring this extensively this year,” Stepenosky said. “We’re currently gathering data and information. We want to know how big a problem it is, what the impact is, what the differences are between elementary, middle and high school.”
LVUSD’s policy acknowledges the desire of parents and guardians to be able to reach their children during the school day.
“Through the use of cell phones, families can communicate better and students and staff can feel a greater sense of security while at school,” the school board notes. Students are supposed to keep their devices powered off in class, unless permitted otherwise by a teacher.
Stepenosky said LVUSD wants to determine how phones are used effectively in the classroom, and whether there are best practices to ensure the technology plays a positive role.
“I’m very interested in learning more about the extent that cell phones are distracting our students, or negatively impacting the learning environment,” Stepenosky said.
On social media specifically, he noted there are positive elements as well as serious downsides identified by numerous studies, including “reduced sleep, increased anxiety, increased feelings of loneliness, depression and poor body image.”
Consequently, LVUSD joined last year’s mass action lawsuit against social media companies, as did Conejo Valley Unified. Hundreds of districts nationwide are seeking reimbursement for the costs of a student mental-health crisis they say has been brought on by harmful apps. Stepenosky likened the suit to the legal action taken by schools against the company Juul for the teen vaping epidemic.
To educate parents about the dangers of phone use, Calabasas High School has partnered with a digital wellness nonprofit called DopaMind, which sends experts to hold discussions. And the district has an entire “low-tech” campus, Mariposa School of Global Education, where technology is kept out of the classroom until a gradual introduction at later grade levels.
Stepenosky’s two children attended “and had a fantastic experience,” he said. The school also facilitates screen-free weeks for the entire family, with parents, too, abstaining from phone use (aside from work requirements).
In the Oak Park Unified School District, elementary and middle school students are not permitted to use their phones during the school day. The policy states that devices must be powered off and stored in backpacks at all times. The exception is if a middle school teacher permits phone use in class. If students need to call their parents, they can use the school phone.
At its high schools, OPUSD allows limited phone use during non-instructional time. During class, devices can only be used with permission from staff.
Oak Park spokesperson Ragini Aggarwal said district leadership “is monitoring the situation” as AB 3216, a bill that would require districts to adopt policies limiting or prohibiting phone use at schools by July 2026, progresses through the Legislature.
“We support measures that limit access to cell phones to ensure a focus on learning while addressing safety and health-related needs,” Aggarwal said. “We will also engage with our learning community to reflect on their concerns and ensure our policies effectively support our students’ educational needs.”
Hani Youssef, superintendent of schools at Simi Valley Unified, said his district has not considered a campus cellphone ban.
“There are pros and cons to this. We’ve seen students use their technology for learning and positive interactions and we’ve also seen students use the technology for things that are unrelated to learning and have been disruptive to our campuses,” Youssef said.
“Cellphones can be distracting and problematic, and they can be helpful and supportive. As with our daily lives, we see where the use of technology can do lots of good and there are times where it can be harmful.”