The Montgomery County school board is slated to discuss Thursday how county public schools are implementing rules about student use of cell phones as well as receive an update on an ongoing pilot program with more restrictions, according to the board’s meeting agenda.
The discussion comes after Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) said in August that it was evaluating its cell phone policy and trying new ways of restricting cell phone use during the school day. Several state lawmakers in the Maryland General Assembly have also recently introduced bills to require school districts to implement restrictive cell phone use policies.
Eight MCPS middle schools and one high school have been participating in the “Away All Day” pilot program with a more restrictive cell phone environment that launched at the start of the 2024-2025 school year.
The pilot’s implementation varies among the schools. At some, such as Silver Creek Middle School in Kensington, students can’t use their cell phones during the school day. At others, including Rockville High School, cell phones can be used in the hallways and during lunch.
Staff, students and administrators at Silver Creek Middle and Rockville High told Bethesda Today during recent visits that the pilot has resulted in promising changes.
School board President Julie Yang, who recently visited Silver Creek and Rockville to discuss their pilot programs, told Bethesda Today that the issue of cell phone use in schools was more complex than she thought it would be and noted students and teachers said the pilot programs made a positive difference in student behavior.
According to documents set to be presented to the school board Thursday, the majority of staff members in elementary and middle schools believe that current cell phone restrictions at their schools were “just right” while the majority of high school staff believe current restrictions are too relaxed.
Middle school students believed current rules are too restrictive and high schoolers believed they were “just right,” according to the presentation.
Principals at schools participating in the pilot program are expected to present to the school board on Thursday. The topic is slated as a discussion item with roughly an hour scheduled to talk about cell phones, so it seems unlikely any action concerning a new cell phone policy or new implementation of new enforcement procedures will occur.
According to the presentation scheduled for the Thursday meeting, MCPS will finalize and release an evaluation of the current cell phone policy and Away All Day pilot program in March and revise the cell phone policy “in alignment with findings and feedback” in March or April.
After providing time for feedback, the district will solidify updated policies and guidelines and share best practices for implementation for the 2025-2026 school year in May.
