School board narrows phone ban but allows student laptops, tablets for instruction in grades 9–12

Brevard County School Board staff announced on Aug. 26 that the district will revise its recently adopted wireless communication device policy to allow limited classroom use of personal laptops, tablets and e-readers for high school students. Assistant Superintendent Tara Harris said the change followed concerns raised after the board passed the policy two weeks earlier.

Harris said: “Students in grades 9 through 12 will be able to use personal laptops, tablets, and ereaders for instructional purposes at the direction of their teacher and with the approval of their principal.” She added, “No change with cell phones. No cell phones from first bell to last bell.”

The board discussed the policy at a workshop earlier the same day and directed staff to draft the revised language. Harris told the meeting that principals have been notified and that the district will send communications to schools and the community explaining the update.

Public speakers at the meeting had urged adjustments to the original policy so devices students use for instruction were not caught up in an all-device ban. Several speakers and board members cited the workshop as the venue in which adjustments were made and emphasized that the new language aims to preserve classroom instructional options while retaining the bell-to-bell phone restriction.

The revision does not change the existing prohibition on cell-phone use during school hours; it limits instructional exceptions to personal laptops, tablets and e-readers and ties their use to teacher direction and principal approval. Board members said the change reflects feedback the district received and that additional wording was still being "word‑smithed" before final publication.

The board did not take a new vote on the amendment at the Aug. 26 meeting; staff described the update as a workshop decision and said administrative communications would follow.