San Mateo County school districts asked to consider cellphone bans

In 2019, Newsom signed Assembly Bill 272 into law granting school districts the authority to regulate the use of smartphones during school hours. Since, he has consistently restated a desire to work further with the California Legislature to restrict use further.

“Leveraging the tools of this law, I urge every school district to act now to restrict smartphone use on campus as we begin the new academic year,” Newsom said in his Aug. 13 letter.

The county has already implemented some of those restrictions.

In 2019, San Mateo High School was one of the first schools in the county to take advantage of the allowable restriction on cellphones. At the start of the school day, students put their cellphones in an electronically locked pouch by the company Yondr, which keeps kids from accessing their phones unless they’re in a designated area.

The San Mateo-Foster City Union High School District followed suit in 2022 as students returned to campus and there were reports of deteriorating mental health and increased online bullying.

“The results have been dramatic,” Superintendent Diego Ochoa said. “It’s hard to say it’s one thing, but we do believe that the cellphone restrictions have contributed. I’m a big proponent.”

At the first board meeting of the school year, San Mateo Union High School District trustees quickly posed consideration of agendizing this matter for a future meeting, but did not officially decide on doing so.

In addition, the San Mateo County Office Education, alongside many of its districts, filed a lawsuit in 2023 alleging social media companies are designed to be purposefully addictive, sparking a mental health crisis among young people.

For COE Superintendent Nancy Magee, recent encouragement and efforts from the governor ultimately supports the same thing as the lawsuit does.

“It’s going to take all the stakeholders in the mix to really find practical solutions that help protect young people from the risks of social media,” Magee said. “The governor’s announcement and encouragement for school districts to take a look at adopting policies both raises awareness in the community, gets good conversations going, and is putting a spotlight on a hard-to-manage problem but is definitely hurting our young people.”

However, local education authorities are making it known that statewide requirements for cellphone bans are not favored by many. Though the letter did not explicitly state such a mandate, it indicates the possibility of stronger action taken in this legislative session by the governor.

Magee said she does not support a statewide requirement for cellphone bans on campuses, but does support other measures presented that address the addictive nature of cellphones beyond the campus — such as Senate Bill 976 that would restrict social media notifications for minors during school hours and between midnight and 6 a.m.

“You can limit it during school hours but it doesn’t solve the addictive nature of the platform,” Magee said. “We have, right now, really not much control in this space. I think we need more guardrails and they need to come from all places.”

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy recently recommended putting warning labels on social media platforms warning parents of their addictive qualities.

The California School Board Association supports allowing school districts the discretion to implement phone bans and believes the decision should remain at the local level in concern with students, staff and families.

“CSBA will oppose any legislation that imposes an unfunded mandate interfering with a school district or county board of education’s local control authority, which includes state-mandated cellphone bans or restrictions,” it said in a press release.

Despite his overwhelming support for cellphone restrictions on campuses, Ochoa agrees that a blanket enforcement requirement from the state is not the answer.

“California is a very unique place,” Ochoa said. “An expectation that a cellphone ban is discussed or considered, that makes sense, but we’re too diverse to have those blanket policies, though.”

Magee said discussions among superintendents in the county will likely occur as the beginning of the school year settles down. Many districts within the county have joined the lawsuit, “taking visible stands that something has to be done to strengthen the guardrails,” she said.