The Brief

- It appears Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) will be tightening its grip on student cell phone use during the school day.

The possible change comes as the school system's 2024-2025 "Cell phone Storage" pilot program is still underway and follows the guidance of Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin's Executive Order last year, which calls on schools across the state to remove cell phones from classrooms to protect student mental health.

FCPS leaders told FOX 5 they had already been working on a pilot program before Governor Youngkin issued the Executive Order, which requires school districts to adopt 'cell phone free' education policies by January 1, 2025.

As part of the FCPS pilot program, a select seven FCPS middle schools and eight FCPS high schools are directing their students to place their devices in certain locations until the end of the school day. A press release said students would be receiving a "Yonder Pouch," that magnetically locks away devices.

Schools not in the pilot program are still directing their students to silence and put away phones. However, devices can still be accessed if used for approved instruction. Students are also free to use their phones in the halls between bells or at lunch.

First reported by InsideNova, FCPS is now recommending the school board adopt a stricter cell phone-away policy, bell-to-bell, district-wide, that would no longer allow phones to be used for instruction unless there are special IEP or medical needs.

A school board document shared shows that at the high school level, FCPS could designate lunch as cell phone space, the document reading, "... the consensus among students, staff, and community partners was that this would be a way to teach students how to use their cell phones responsibly prior to leaving the K-12 environment."

It's not clear what the storage requirements could be. The document does say phones can be taken away as a disciplinary measure and given back at the end of the day, but a student would not be suspended, expelled, or removed from class for violating policies.

"As part of the annual consideration of FCPS Students Rights and Responsibilities (SR&R), at next week’s School Board work session there will be a review of the survey and other data regarding this school year’s cell phone pilot. There will also be a discussion of possible next steps. The plans for the upcoming year will be determined in conjunction with the SR&R topic at an upcoming School Board meeting later this spring," said FCPS Spokesperson Julie Moult in a Friday morning statement to FOX 5.