Cell Phone Policies During 2025-26 School Year

Thank you for your cooperation during the school year as we implemented the new policies restricting student use of personal devices and piloted cell phone pouches at some secondary schools. These procedures positively impacted instructional time, reduced distractions and contributed to positive school climates for all. We conducted surveys throughout the school year to gauge input from all schools, including pouch pilot schools. Based on the results:

• Arlington Career Center, H-B-Woodlawn, Wakefield, Washington-Liberty, and Yorktown high schools will fully implement the cell phone storage pouches in the 2025-26 school year. Each school will provide more information about the rollout plan for pouches at their schools in their back-to-school communications.
• Middle schools will not require students to store their devices in pouches but will maintain a limited supply of pouches to use on a case-by-case basis for individual students.
• Arlington Community High School and Langston High School Continuation Program will maintain a limited supply to use as needed, following the middle school model.
• All elementary, middle and high schools will continue to follow the policy requiring student personal devices to be off and away during the school day.

Survey highlights include:

• 85% of staff at schools with pouches believe the cell phone policy helps manage use, compared to 65% at non-pouch schools.
• 39% of staff at non-pouch high schools find it difficult to manage student cell phone use, compared to 13% at pouch high schools.
• Over 80% of families at both pouch and non-pouch schools agree that cell phone policies have been clearly communicated.

View full survey results and more information online. High schools and the schools that participated in the pilot will follow up with further information on the collection and distribution process for your students’ school.