A survey by the state authority on public schools, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, found that most of Washington's 295 school districts are starting the year with a phone ban in some fashion. Many policies are new this year, some only a year or two old.
Three-fourths of all districts have an updated policy, the survey found, with over half of those prohibiting use during class time and around 30 percent barring use for the entire school day.
"Our young people are navigating a deeply connected online world where they have 24/7 access right at their fingertips," wrote state superintendent Chris Reykdal, who last year implored all schools to tighten their phone policies. "There are benefits to these powerful technologies if used responsibly. There are also tremendous risks. Studies have found negative impacts on mental health, learning, sleep, and more. I'm proud of our school district leaders who are tackling this problem head-on."
Around Spokane County this summer, school boards have been following each other like dominoes in altering cellphone policies to limit use of phones in schools.
The first domino in the sequence was the rural Reardan-Edwall School District, which enrolls around 730 students at two schools. The district cracked down on phone use ahead of the 2023-24 school year, which was used as a case study for OSPI when implementing guidance for schools.
Phones had to be kept in a locker or a cubby, with high schoolers allowed access during lunch and breaks. Superintendent Eric Sobotta spoke highly of the policy in 2024, when he testified at a hearing for a bill that would have restricted phones in schools across Washington. It didn't pass in 2024.
"The kids are more engaged with each other and more engaged with the staff. They're more engaged with their learning in the classrooms," Sobotta said in 2024 at the bill's hearing. "Middle school students actually have to talk to each other at lunch rather than on their phones playing games, and students say 'Hi' to me now when I see them in the hall."
Below are the other dominoes to follow Reardan-Edwall's lead in recent years.
SPOKANE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The highest-enrolled school district in the county and third-highest in the state was the first of its size to restrict phones. Students in middle and elementary schools can only use them before and after school. High schoolers have access at lunch and between classes. The school board made the revisions after much contemplation last summer.
The district's 29,000 kids had a mix of emotions going into the school year, some excited and some reluctant. The end of the school year also reflected differing opinions, some middle schoolers missing their phone at lunch time and the solitude scrolling offered them in the lunchroom. Others found it was easier to relate to their peers, and reduced phone attachment outside of school as well.
"The habits that they're teaching us to believe in now will help us know the value in human interactions and the value in ourselves," Sacajawea Middle Schooler Amelia Mejia said in June. "I think that sometimes phones almost dehumanize us; they take us away from who we are and how connected we are."
CENTRAL VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRCT
Central Valley's 15,000 students will start their year with a new phone policy after the board adopted restrictions in March.
There's a key detail that sets apart Central Valley's policy from neighboring districts: High schoolers can use their phone during lunchtime, but not between classes, as is the case for many others on this list. The restrictions on middle and elementary schoolers are the same as those at SPS, limiting phone use to before and after school hours.
"Our kids might not be focusing in the classroom as they're thinking about the next time their phone is in their hand in the hallways," Central Valley board member Anneice Barker said the first time the policy recommendation was before the board. "Then they have to go to their next class and basically go through detox, and then they get their fix, and then detox again."
Concerned with enforcing the five-minute spells as kids move from class to class, the district created a new position at each of the three high schoolers: a hall monitor to prowl for contraband phones in the halls so teachers don't have to take on the task.
MEAD SCHOOL DISTRICT
Spokane's northern neighbor cracked down on phone use among its 10,400 students in August 2024 with perhaps the strictest policy in the region.
Mead's policy prohibits phone use during the entire school day for each school level, and schools can't make their own policies when it comes to phone use.
According to OSPI's survey, Mead reported their community is satisfied with the approach to restricting phone use.
CHENEY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The board for Cheney Public Schools adopted the phone restriction for its more than 5,000 students in June after surveying students, staff and parents, and consulting with other districts that had tightened their policies. The consensus, Ferney said, was that a change was in order.
"Overall, it just came to a point where we thought, 'How can we limit screen-time use and teach the time and place to use cellphones?'" Ferney said.
Cheney's adopted policy mirrors Spokane's, altered last summer, in that it restricts phone use for elementary and middle schoolers to before and after school, while high schoolers can use their devices at lunch and between classes.
EAST VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT
East Valley is unusual in that its approach allows for each building to police phones differently, per the district's response to the OSPI survey.
East Valley's 3,600 pupils learn at one of eight schools, including one high school, one middle school, four elementary schools and two option schools.
The board's policy, last reviewed in April, requires phones to be off and away during instructional time only, and are otherwise permitted outside of class.
According to the survey, the community is "satisfied" with East Valley's approach to cellphone restrictions.
WEST VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT
The West Valley School Board is poised to adopt a revised cell phone policy for its 3,400 students at its Wednesday meeting that's "kinda like spreading peanut butter," Superintendent Kyle Rydell said on Monday.
"I think it truly is going to create a consistent environment across our schools," Rydell said.
The current policy has been unaltered since 2006, and contains references to beepers and pagers. Rydell said it wasn't enforced districtwide or even schoolwide, with each teacher deciding their own rules in the classroom.
The new policy would also give a nod to others like Spokane and Cheney, barring middle and elementary use to before and after school while allowing high schoolers to use their phones during lunch and passing period.
"We want kids to be adult-ish," he said, adding that kids can ask their teachers to use their devices in emergencies or with administrative approval if it fits with curriculum, like photography class.
The updated policy would technically be adopted after the first day of school, but Rydell expects staff will still enforce the districtwide restriction as it's in line with current policy, he said.
"When teachers know that there's a consistent policy across the district, then it's easier for teachers to enforce," he said.
DEER PARK SCHOOL DISTRICT
One of the county's northernmost districts serving some 2,800 pupils reported to OSPI that its board adjusted their cell phone policy ahead of the school year. Deer Park prevents use only during instructional time and gives each school the discretion to enforce the policy as they see fit.
The Deer Park community is "satisfied" with the policy so far, according to the district's response to the OSPI survey.
RIVERSIDE SCHOOL DISTRICT
The other of the county's northern-most school districts serving Elk and Chattaroy reported the same responses to the OSPI survey as Deer Park, that the district's 1,600 students are to put away their phones only during class time.
Unlike Deer Park Riverside said the community is "very satisfied" with the policy so far.
MEDICAL LAKE SCHOOL DISTRICT
Akin to Riverside and Deer Park, Medical Lake prevents phone use for its 1,900 students during class only, and made updates to its policies ahead of the school year.
Medical Lake told OSPI its community is "neutral" about its approach to phones, the survey said.
Elena Perry's work is funded in part by members of the Spokane community via the Community Journalism and Civic Engagement Fund. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.
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