STOCKTON, Calif. — Tuesday marks the first day of school for students in the Lincoln Unified School District in Stockton.
The Lincoln Unified School District is implementing a new "no cell phone policy" for the 2024-2025 academic school year. It's for all students, schools and grade levels. The district serves more than 8,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
Under the new policy, students will be required to place their cell phones in an identified space at the start of class. The cell phone must be turned off during school hours. Students are responsible for personally placing the cell phone in the identified space and then getting the phone back at the end of class.
There are some exceptions to the rule. High school students, 9th through 12th grade, are allowed to use cell phones only before and after school, during passing periods, and at lunchtime. Students will not be allowed to use cell phones during class time.
For all grade levels, students who use their cell phones as medical devices will be able to maintain access to their cell phones. But it must be documented in the student's health plan. The student is still required to put the cell phone away, with the ringer turned off. For students in Transitional Kindergarten through 8th grade, cell phones are not to be used during passing periods, recess, or the lunch period.
If a student is caught using a cell phone during class, there are a number of possible consequences depending on the grade level. For students in TK through 8th grade, the first violation comes with a warning. The second violation will result in a call home. For the third violation, the phone will be confiscated and the student’s parent or guardian will be responsible for retrieving it from the school office.
For high schoolers, cell phones, smart watches, headphones and other unauthorized electronic devices must be turned off and put away during class hours. That includes time out of the classroom on a hall pass and during all school and state tests.
School authorities are allowed to confiscate the student's cell phone at any time. If a student does not hand over the phone, it will result in suspension. When a phone is confiscated, only a parent or guardian may pick up the phone at the end of the school day from the school office. There are other consequences for high schoolers, too, like a call home, detention and four hours of Saturday School or Focus Center.
Superintendent Kelly Dextraze released a statement regarding the no cell phone policy. It reads in full:
"Lincoln Unified School District has recently announced changes to its cell phone policy for the 2024-25 school year. Students will no longer be able to use their cell phones during instructional time, in all grades, at all schools. Students will be required to place their phones in an identified space in their classrooms, and their phones will need to be turned off. This policy change is the result of careful analysis and review of research, related to the impacts of cell phone use on youth as well as during instructional time. There are many schools, districts and states that have implemented such bans and they are under consideration in others, including California. Many of our schools and classrooms have already successfully implemented similar practices which the policy change will formalize district-wide."
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