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Board leans toward locker‑based storage to comply with Maryland Phone Free Schools Act
Summary
Staff presented four options to comply with the Maryland Phone Free Schools Act (effective 2027–28); the district recommended locker‑based storage and the board signaled consensus to begin implementation in the 2026–27 school year while policy committee refines logistics, exceptions and enforcement.
The Washington County Public Schools Board of Education discussed how to comply with the Maryland Phone Free Schools Act, which requires districts to update student phone policies by the 2027–28 school year. Staff presented four options — a total ban, classroom caddies, locker storage, and Yonder pouches — and recommended a locker‑based storage model.
Staff described the locker approach as a way for secondary students to secure phones in lockers at the start of the day and retrieve them at dismissal, while elementary classrooms would use cubbies. “The recommended option that staff bring to you today, is a locker based storage model,” a staff presenter said.
Board members raised multiple operational concerns, including that not every school provides lockers (two large high schools were cited as needing alternate locker‑type storage), how students would access devices between classes, and safety/emergency access. Some members favored an immediate, stricter bell‑to‑bell ban; others worried about students’ ability to contact parents after after‑school activities.
Student board members warned about anxiety related to lockers and loss of immediate access. One student said the policy may be “anxiety producing” and asked how students would contact parents if schedules run late; other student speakers described hall passes, extracurricular schedules and the potential for digital pouches with teacher‑override magnets.
Several board members expressed a practical preference for lockers as the easiest to implement consistently and for the policy committee to work through logistics, exceptions (IEP/medical), enforcement and parent communications. The chair asked whether the board had consensus to begin the change in the 2026–27 school year; members signaled support to start sooner than the statute’s 2027–28 deadline.
Next steps: policy committee will draft specific policy language, analyze costs and locker availability at schools lacking traditional lockers, prepare communication and training plans for staff and families, and return with recommendations for first and second reads.
