On Tuesday, Aug. 13, Governor Gavin Newsom sent a letter to school districts across California, including PAUSD, asking them to restrict students’ use of smartphones on campus.
This message was sent in response to the Phone-Free Schools Act, which — if signed by Newsom — would require school districts to implement a policy to limit or prohibit the use of smartphones at school by July 1, 2026. This act builds off of Assembly Bill 272, which was effective starting Jan. 1, 2020 and authorized districts to regulate cell phone use.
In the Superintendent’s Update on Aug. 23, Superintendent Dr. Don Austin addressed Newsom’s concerns by reinforcing PAUSD’s continued approach in allowing teachers to implement their own restrictions rather than administering a global uniform policy. However, he notes that further discussion regarding this issue will take place after a new school board has been elected in November.
“If we’re required by the state to ‘ban’ cell phones, then we’ll do it,” he said. “But, the state’s not going to do that because they understand the complexities (of the regulation) and the backlash they would receive. At some point we’re going to have the new school board weigh in on that.” While PAUSD will not take any actions right now, the Los Angeles Unified School District — even prior to Newsom’s ordinance — set a precedent of implementing their own regulations. LAUSD voted in June to ban smartphone use for over 500,000 students during the school day starting in Jan. of 2025. In an LAUSD News Release, Los Angeles Unified Board President Jackie Goldberg explained how phones have impacted student behavior.
“Cell phone use in schools has gotten out of control,” she said. “It’s gotten to the point that students don’t talk face to face, but instead text one another when they’re sitting right next to each other.”
PAUSD has not decided on a universal policy like LAUSD, yet varying levels of phone restrictions have already been implemented throughout Gunn classrooms. According to a poll sent out to students, 33.3% of students have five to seven classes with cell phone restrictions. Senior Dingyi Li shared her experience with the various classroom phone policies implemented throughout her classes on campus.
“Some teachers had no phone policy at all,” she said. “You could use your phone as long as you didn’t blast music. (But), some other teachers were stricter, (and used) phone pockets or (required students) to keep their phones in (their) backpacks.”
Although sophomore Isaiah Dai understands the downsides of permitting cell phone usage on campus, he does not believe that confiscation would be the best practice.
“Phones shouldn’t be banned completely, but I think you shouldn’t use them that much in class,” he said. “I am a lot more efficient when I don’t use (them). But, you definitely (should) have it at school and you should keep them on yourselves, but just don’t use them.”
Computer science teacher Joshua Paley uses phone pockets in his classes to combat distractions. If a student uses their phone during class, he confiscates it for the rest of the day.
“When a teacher writes a lesson, they are trying to figure out how to help the student learn,” he said. “Teachers don’t want students to have distractions, (but) they are stuck with (it) because of cell phones.”
Principal Dr. Wendy Stratton suggested a potential method to ease students into a universal policy regarding phone restrictions.
“(We could try) to pilot something school-wide,” she said. “I think the most important thing will be to create something so that people have a moment of understanding around (the situation).”
Learning from his previous experiences, Assistant Principal Dr. Mycal Hixon emphasized the essential role student voices played in implementing such policies.
“I came to the school district from a high school (that) implemented something similar,” he said. “(They) didn’t involve student voices or agency, so it didn’t turn out great.”
To work with students, staff and parents in creating a suitable policy for the district community, Stratton assembled the Gunn Cell Phone Policy Review and Revamp Ad Hoc Committee. “The ad hoc (committee) will engage in a structured problem-solving process that addresses mindsets, defines the problem, establishes solution criteria, brainstorms solutions and selects solutions to implement here at Gunn,” she wrote in a Schoology Update.
The first meeting took place at lunch on Wednesday, Sept. 11. Members of the meeting discussed strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats regarding the uses of cell phones. Junior Claudia Wolff De Tourreil, who was a member of this meeting, believes that cell phones negatively impact student education. “I think that cell phones have definitely gotten in the way of a lot of the learning that we try to do in class,” she said. “Often, around campus, I see lots of people sitting around on their phones and not engaging with each other.”
Wolff De Tourreil found the meeting to be significant in addressing cell phone issues and allowing for student voices to be heard.
“We started to think about how cell phones are impacting our school,” she said. “I think there’s definitely a lot more to do and talk about, but I think (the first meeting) was a good start.”
Despite this student outreach effort, PAUSD has no plans to implement phone restrictions or a phone ban at the moment. Teachers still have control over establishing the phone policies in their classrooms and students can participate in discussions regarding phone regulations.
“I think people are looking for a measured response, because this should not become a third rail issue,” Austin said. “What (the solution is) won’t be determined by a governor’s press conference and some advocacy around this topic. It’ll be much more thoughtful.”
