The Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) is calling for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) to adopt a policy that limits cell phone use in schools during instructional time, according to a Thursday statement from the local teachers union.
A resolution recently passed by the union calls for MCPS to “universally adopt and uniformly implement a phased transition to a cell phone-free learning environment,” the statement said.
“I know that my students do not need to use cell phones in classrooms or between classes,” Justin Fauntroy, a computer science teacher at Argyle Middle School in Silver Spring and a co-chair of the union’s cell phone policy working group, said in the statement. “We need students to be meaningfully engaged in classes – and with one another.”
The resolution follows a Feb. 20 school board meeting during which the Montgomery County school board and MCPS staff said they would be moving forward with adjusting the district’s policy on restricting cell phone use in schools and how that policy will be implemented. The announcement followed the presentation of feedback on the district’s “Away All Day” cell phone pilot program implemented last fall. It also comes amid efforts by some state lawmakers in the Maryland General Assembly to force school districts to implement restrictive cell phone use policies.
According to MCPS regulations, elementary school students can only use phones before and after the school day. Middle schoolers can use them before and after the school day, and during instructional time if teachers allow. Cell phone use for middle schoolers during lunch time is up to a school’s principal.
High schoolers can use phones before and after school and during lunch, during instructional time if teachers allow, and between classes if principals allow. Under the policy, individual middle and high schools and even classrooms can have varying rules on what’s permitted.
The MCEA resolution said the current “uneven application” of cell phone rules use has created “inequitable learning environments across schools.”
The resolution outlines how a phased-transition to cell-phone free environments would look like, and how it should be implemented. For elementary and middle schools, cell phones should be put away during class, lunch and transitional periods, MCEA said. In high schools, students would be allowed to use cell phones only during “designated times at lunch and transitions,” but not during instructional time. The resolution also said that MCEA recommended that MCPS provide cell phone “caddies” to create storage for students and staff in high schools.
For elementary schoolers who violate the cell phone restrictions, the MCEA resolution recommended that their phones be taken to the front office, where the students could retrieve them at the end of the day. For middle and high schoolers, the first violation would require them to place their devices in locked cell phone pouches that staff would unlock at the end of the day. Additional violations would require the students’ guardians to retrieve the device. The resolution noted that exemptions from the policy would occur in cases of documented medical need or other accommodations.
MCEA’s resolution recommended the restrictions begin in the 2025-2026 school year for elementary middle schools, while high schools prepare for implementation of the restrictions. High schools would fully implement the restrictions during the 2026-2027 school year, according to the resolution. Stakeholder engagement, teacher training for device-free classrooms and annual monitoring would also be needed.
“Change is difficult, but we know that helping our students succeed is worth it,” Rainer Kulenkampff, fellow co-chair of MCEA’s cell phone policy working group and a social studies teacher at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, said in the MCEA statement. “It’s critical that we get this right so that we can not only improve our teaching and learning conditions but also strengthen students’ mental health and well-being.”
