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Board adopts wireless-device restrictions and handbook updates tied to new state law
Summary
To comply with a state law referred to in the meeting as the Focus Act, the board approved revisions to policy 6.2o on wireless communications, updated the parent/student handbook with cell-phone consequences and vaping provisions, and removed a secondary locker fee because lockers will be used for device storage.
The Vestavia Hills City Schools Board of Education voted June 23, 2025, to revise board policy 6.2o (wireless communication/devices) to reflect a state statute referred to in the meeting as the Focus Act. The board also approved related updates to the district’s parent/student handbook and to policy 4.90.4 (Internet safety and use of technology).
Superintendent Todd Freeman said the Focus Act defines the instructional day as bell to bell and prohibits wireless devices that provide communication during that time; the district’s revised policy mirrors that statutory language. Under the approved approach, secondary students in grades 6–12 are required to store personal wireless devices in lockers for the duration of the school day; the district removed the general locker fee for this reason. The superintendent emphasized that school-issued devices (for example, district Chromebooks) remain governed by existing policies and are excepted from the locker requirement, and written health plans, individualized education programs (IEPs) or Section 504 plans will allow exceptions when required by those documents.
The board also approved minor language updates to the district’s Internet safety and technology-use policy to align with statutory requirements, and the parent/student handbook was updated to add cell-phone consequences and incorporate state vaping provisions. Staff said communications will go to parents and schools to explain the changes; the law and several approved policy changes take effect July 1, 2025.
Ending: Schools will publish specific procedures for device storage and handbook distribution; the district anticipates publishing the updated handbook and opening the fee/handbook portal in late July.
