Highschool college students in Broward County might quickly be allowed to make use of their cellphones throughout lunch, because the College Board prepares to vote on a potential change to its present all-day ban.
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The district’s present coverage, handed final 12 months, prohibits cellphone use from the primary bell till dismissal for all college students. Whereas the rule was supposed to enhance pupil psychological well being and educational focus, it has been met with mixed reviews—significantly from excessive schoolers and their mother and father. Broward’s pupil inhabitants consists of a lot of Caribbean-American college students, a lot of whom have voiced considerations over the restrictive rule.
This 12 months, a brand new state regulation made cellphone bans necessary for college kids in kindergarten via eighth grade however gave faculty districts discretion over guidelines for top schoolers. The regulation permits highschool college students to make use of their units throughout non-instructional time, comparable to lunch, however permits districts to undertake stricter guidelines—like Broward’s.
Now the district’s coverage is again up for evaluation because the College Board considers adjustments to the Pupil Code of Conduct for the 2025–26 faculty 12 months. A vote is scheduled for Tuesday.
Superintendent Howard Hepburn is recommending that the present full-day ban stay in place. “So there’s tons of information that assist limiting cell telephones in the course of the faculty day really helps our children,” Hepburn mentioned. “We noticed loads of positives out of that—pupil battle points went down, extra engagement in our lecture rooms, extra engagement throughout lunch, extra engagement in the course of the hallway, college students really speaking to one another.”
Nonetheless, a majority of board members—Lori Alhadeff, Adam Cervera, Debbi Hixon, Jeff Holness, and Rebecca Thompson—have expressed assist in current conferences for giving highschool college students entry to their telephones throughout lunch.
“Our college students are overwhelmed. Utilizing their cellphone throughout lunch to unwind and textual content their mates memes isn’t detrimental to all college students,” Thompson instructed the board on June 24. “I want to give our highschool college students the liberty of their half-hour the place they’re not structured by an grownup, and so they can do what they need inside authorized parameters.”
Lisa Maxwell, government director of the Broward Principals and Assistants Affiliation, mentioned most highschool principals additionally assist lifting the lunch ban. “A few of these causes relate to points round social interactions and permitting some college students who use music or different apps throughout lunch time to chill out and function means to really feel much less anxious,” she wrote in a current e-mail to board members.
“Different causes embrace the necessity of some college students to contact their mother and father or siblings to coordinate afterschool actions, or to tell them of plans which can change in the course of the day, prepare for transportation, and common communications with household and mates,” she added. “This helps to lighten the appreciable load on the entrance workplace workers.”
Maxwell additionally famous the challenges of enforcement. “It requires huge assets to implement a no cellular phone coverage throughout lunch time the place college students could also be unfold out throughout a campus and even within the lunchroom,” she wrote.
However not everybody agrees. Board members Sarah Leonardi, Nora Rupert, and Allen Zeman stay firmly against altering the rule, citing considerations over psychological well being and what they view as elevated pupil well-being in cellphone-free environments. They argue that many college students have change into extra social throughout lunch for the reason that ban went into impact, even when compliance hasn’t been excellent.
The College Board will take up the problem at its assembly on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.
