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SVUSD adopts mobile-device policy for students, accepts nearly $52,000 in school gifts
Summary
Trustees adopted revised board policy 5131.8 requiring phones be off and away during instructional time for elementary and secondary levels and approved acceptance of gifts totaling $51,964.51 to support music, CTE, athletics and other programs.
The Simi Valley Unified School District board voted Tuesday to adopt a revised district policy on mobile communication devices and approved acceptance of more than $51,000 in gifts to support school programs.
The new policy, presented to trustees as a follow-up to prior survey work and stakeholder feedback, requires elementary and middle school students to keep phones off and away in backpacks from bell to bell. At the high-school level, students must keep phones off and away during instructional time but may use them during lunch and free periods; the district said a communication push will include the policy and related discipline guidance in parent handbooks.
A district presenter said the policy differentiates by level to reduce classroom distractions while preserving limited device access in secondary schools. The board approved the policy by roll-call vote.
On the consent calendar, trustees approved acceptance of gifts totaling $51,964.51. The donations included PTA contributions for transportation and music programs, a $10,815.84 donation from Simi Valley Music Boosters for coaching stipends, a $15,000 gift to Royal High School for an esports program, and a $10,000 contribution from the Gene Haas Foundation for the Simi Valley High School robotics club. The district listed a cumulative total of $445,374.25 in gifts for the 2024–25 school year.
Trustees also approved routine financial resolutions, including a temporary-loans resolution for fiscal-year 2025–26.
