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Richmond schools brief board review of new state cellphone law ahead of fall term
Summary
Board member Austin Brand said a new state statute that took effect July 1 will require students to keep cell phones put away “from bell to bell,” while allowing devices to be stored inside school buildings; the board’s review did not adopt a final local enforcement policy.
Austin Brand, a member of the Richmond Community School Board, said the district reviewed a new state statute that requires students to keep cell phones put away from bell to bell during the school day and permits students to store devices inside school buildings rather than requiring them be kept off-site. “That statute took effect on July 1 and directly impacts the coming school year,” Brand said.
The board discussed how the statute will change the district’s approach to phones during class time but did not vote on a specific enforcement policy during the briefing. Brand summarized the statute’s key points: statewide “bell-to-bell” restrictions with an allowance for on-campus storage, and an effective date of July 1. The district did not provide a sample student-discipline or storage protocol in the briefing.
School officials said the change will apply districtwide for the coming year, but the board brief did not include details on who would be responsible for storing devices, whether lockers or school-provided storage would be required, or how exceptions (medical needs, instructional uses) would be handled. Those operational details were not specified.
The board’s review was informational; no formal policy adoption or vote was recorded in the briefing. The district said the statute will be implemented for the upcoming school year; parents and staff expecting further procedural guidance were referred to future school communications.
