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Howard County Board reviews first months of stricter student personal-device rules, recommends continued enforcement
Summary
After three months of the revised personal-device policy, staff reported fewer confiscations and mixed feedback from students, parents and administrators; an advisory group recommended keeping the policy as adopted and improving implementation and data collection.
The Howard County Board of Education on June 26 reviewed the first three months of its revised student personal-device policy, which went into effect March 3, and the advisory work group recommended the district maintain the policy while strengthening consistent implementation and data collection.
Board members heard a presentation from Brian Bassett, director of communications and engagement and chair of the advisory work group, who said the district collected more than 8,000 survey responses in the spring and about 4,000 device confiscations were recorded systemwide between March 3 and the end of the school year on June 18.
The advisory group reported that parents and teachers were generally supportive of the policy, while students were less supportive and administrators were mixed. Bassett said confiscations were concentrated in high schools, particularly among freshmen, and that the number of confiscations dropped month to month after March.
"Students were continuing to access non-educational content on school devices and finding ways around firewalls," Bassett said. He added that the district needs better, more consistent methods of recording confiscations so staff can track trends.
Jen Robinson, the district's chief schools officer, told the board enforcement is not optional: implementation is a system expectation and staff will hold administrators accountable where the policy is not being applied consistently. "If anyone sees or feels something different, we certainly need to know that," Robinson said.
The advisory work group considered seven possible adjustments, including allowing students designated times to check phones in high school, expanding the list of staff authorized to confiscate devices, permitting wireless earbuds or phone photographs for instructional use, and changing consequences for violations. The work group voted to recommend keeping the policy as adopted by the board and focusing instead on consistent implementation and better data collection.
Bassett noted small operational adjustments already made during implementation, such as permitting wired headphones for instructional uses on district Chromebooks, and said curricular offices acquired alternate devices (for example digital cameras) to support instruction where phones had previously been used.
Board members raised questions about assistive-technology needs for students with IEPs or 504 plans and urged the district to ensure staff and teachers receive IEP/504 information in time to implement accommodations. Robinson said the district will continue to work with special education stakeholders; advisory-group co-chairs from the Special Education Citizens Advisory Committee participated in the review.
The board did not change policy language at the meeting. Superintendent Barnes and the advisory group asked staff to broaden education and outreach before the 2025–26 school year, improve data collection on confiscations and continue collaboration with bargaining units and student groups on consistent enforcement.
The board directed staff to return with additional implementation guidance and improved data early in the next school year so the district can evaluate trends after a full year of the policy.
