New cell phone policy for 2026-2027

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have to believe this thread has been discovered by teens. Surely there aren't parents actively helping their kid find ways to skirt policies that are enforced for the greater good of all students?

I hope the punishments next year for phone use become "phone is held for 2 weeks at school" or "parent must come check the phone into the office daily" or something so ridiculously disruptive to the parents' lives that they are encouraged to actually parent their child's phone use.

I wouldn't worry about that! When the line to collect the phones becomes another 20+ minutes to the school day, that will be a natural consequence of kids taking their phones out at lunch. Miss the bus, walk home, or call your parents to get you. Sooner or later, it'll start to be a greater problem for the kid/family. So let them do what they want. Let the parents provide burner phones if they want. They'll need to buy a good supply of those burner phones otherwise the natural consequence will still become an issue for them.

Heck, hopefully the administration at these schools are looking at this thread and can implement a delayed return policy for the phone (same day, 20 minutes after school has been dismissed) and let the chips fall where they may. Guarantee this is a problem which will then self-correct instantaneously, within the first two weeks of school.

That. Is. Brilliant.

+10000

Thank you to the poster! At our HS, the PTA is engaging with the Administration about best way to implement the new policy. I'm most definitely bringing this to their attention.

If you actually think anyone is going to wait 20 minutes after school to return phones you are more delusional than I thought. lol! Go ahead and introduce this idea. They are going to nod and say we will think about it and then laugh behind your back at the absurdity of it. You parents are so dumb! As if any teacher or Gatehouse listens to your dumb ideas!!!! Thanks for the laugh.

Why wouldn’t they? All staff has to stay after school anyway. It’s in our contract hours.

At my school, as soon as I see a phone, I email the security team and write the referral for the device. Someone comes and picks it up within a few minutes, and it is held in the office until the end of the day. If the kid refuses to give me the phone, they go with security to speak to the administrator with a referral for insubordination.


The second time, they don’t get the device back until they’ve served their detention. The third time, they don’t get it back until the parent comes in to collect the device, has a meeting with admin, and the student serves a day of ISS.

It works. I still write one or two referrals a week, but at the beginning of the school year I was writing one or two per day.

I fully admit one of the administrators is a slacker and rarely follows up, but the other 3 are awesome and consequences are assigned every time.

This isn’t going to happen for lunch infractions. Sorry. It’s just too ridiculous.

Agreed. Class time phone usage - sure. But the idea that teachers, already overworked, underpaid, and with not enough time to do their actual job, are going to spend periods policing student breaks and writing them up is really sort of an insult to teachers. They have subject specific knowledge to teach - they aren't mall cop style babysitters.

Thankfully our high school didn’t treat kids like kindergartners this year. Lunch time phone use was ok even with the state law. I suspect they will be lenient again next year. I’m not too worried.

Is it ok under state law?
Virginia public schools are required to implement "bell-to-bell" bans on student cell phone and smart device use. Under state law, students must keep their phones turned off and stored away for the entire academic day, including during lunch and class changes.

https://www.ffxnow.com/2026/04/13/student-cell-phone-ban-strengthened-under-newly-signed-law-from-fairfax-senator/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have to believe this thread has been discovered by teens. Surely there aren't parents actively helping their kid find ways to skirt policies that are enforced for the greater good of all students?

I hope the punishments next year for phone use become "phone is held for 2 weeks at school" or "parent must come check the phone into the office daily" or something so ridiculously disruptive to the parents' lives that they are encouraged to actually parent their child's phone use.

I wouldn't worry about that! When the line to collect the phones becomes another 20+ minutes to the school day, that will be a natural consequence of kids taking their phones out at lunch. Miss the bus, walk home, or call your parents to get you. Sooner or later, it'll start to be a greater problem for the kid/family. So let them do what they want. Let the parents provide burner phones if they want. They'll need to buy a good supply of those burner phones otherwise the natural consequence will still become an issue for them.

Heck, hopefully the administration at these schools are looking at this thread and can implement a delayed return policy for the phone (same day, 20 minutes after school has been dismissed) and let the chips fall where they may. Guarantee this is a problem which will then self-correct instantaneously, within the first two weeks of school.

That. Is. Brilliant.

+10000

Thank you to the poster! At our HS, the PTA is engaging with the Administration about best way to implement the new policy. I'm most definitely bringing this to their attention.

If you actually think anyone is going to wait 20 minutes after school to return phones you are more delusional than I thought. lol! Go ahead and introduce this idea. They are going to nod and say we will think about it and then laugh behind your back at the absurdity of it. You parents are so dumb! As if any teacher or Gatehouse listens to your dumb ideas!!!! Thanks for the laugh.

Why wouldn’t they? All staff has to stay after school anyway. It’s in our contract hours.

At my school, as soon as I see a phone, I email the security team and write the referral for the device. Someone comes and picks it up within a few minutes, and it is held in the office until the end of the day. If the kid refuses to give me the phone, they go with security to speak to the administrator with a referral for insubordination.


The second time, they don’t get the device back until they’ve served their detention. The third time, they don’t get it back until the parent comes in to collect the device, has a meeting with admin, and the student serves a day of ISS.

It works. I still write one or two referrals a week, but at the beginning of the school year I was writing one or two per day.

I fully admit one of the administrators is a slacker and rarely follows up, but the other 3 are awesome and consequences are assigned every time.

This isn’t going to happen for lunch infractions. Sorry. It’s just too ridiculous.

Agreed. Class time phone usage - sure. But the idea that teachers, already overworked, underpaid, and with not enough time to do their actual job, are going to spend periods policing student breaks and writing them up is really sort of an insult to teachers. They have subject specific knowledge to teach - they aren't mall cop style babysitters.

Thankfully our high school didn’t treat kids like kindergartners this year. Lunch time phone use was ok even with the state law. I suspect they will be lenient again next year. I’m not too worried.

Is it ok under state law?
Virginia public schools are required to implement "bell-to-bell" bans on student cell phone and smart device use. Under state law, students must keep their phones turned off and stored away for the entire academic day, including during lunch and class changes.

https://www.ffxnow.com/2026/04/13/student-cell-phone-ban-strengthened-under-newly-signed-law-from-fairfax-senator/

They can implement anything they want but it won’t be enforceable. Do you still see people on their phones in their car?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have to believe this thread has been discovered by teens. Surely there aren't parents actively helping their kid find ways to skirt policies that are enforced for the greater good of all students?

I hope the punishments next year for phone use become "phone is held for 2 weeks at school" or "parent must come check the phone into the office daily" or something so ridiculously disruptive to the parents' lives that they are encouraged to actually parent their child's phone use.

I wouldn't worry about that! When the line to collect the phones becomes another 20+ minutes to the school day, that will be a natural consequence of kids taking their phones out at lunch. Miss the bus, walk home, or call your parents to get you. Sooner or later, it'll start to be a greater problem for the kid/family. So let them do what they want. Let the parents provide burner phones if they want. They'll need to buy a good supply of those burner phones otherwise the natural consequence will still become an issue for them.

Heck, hopefully the administration at these schools are looking at this thread and can implement a delayed return policy for the phone (same day, 20 minutes after school has been dismissed) and let the chips fall where they may. Guarantee this is a problem which will then self-correct instantaneously, within the first two weeks of school.

That. Is. Brilliant.

+10000

Thank you to the poster! At our HS, the PTA is engaging with the Administration about best way to implement the new policy. I'm most definitely bringing this to their attention.

If you actually think anyone is going to wait 20 minutes after school to return phones you are more delusional than I thought. lol! Go ahead and introduce this idea. They are going to nod and say we will think about it and then laugh behind your back at the absurdity of it. You parents are so dumb! As if any teacher or Gatehouse listens to your dumb ideas!!!! Thanks for the laugh.

Why wouldn’t they? All staff has to stay after school anyway. It’s in our contract hours.

At my school, as soon as I see a phone, I email the security team and write the referral for the device. Someone comes and picks it up within a few minutes, and it is held in the office until the end of the day. If the kid refuses to give me the phone, they go with security to speak to the administrator with a referral for insubordination.


The second time, they don’t get the device back until they’ve served their detention. The third time, they don’t get it back until the parent comes in to collect the device, has a meeting with admin, and the student serves a day of ISS.

It works. I still write one or two referrals a week, but at the beginning of the school year I was writing one or two per day.

I fully admit one of the administrators is a slacker and rarely follows up, but the other 3 are awesome and consequences are assigned every time.

This isn’t going to happen for lunch infractions. Sorry. It’s just too ridiculous.

Agreed. Class time phone usage - sure. But the idea that teachers, already overworked, underpaid, and with not enough time to do their actual job, are going to spend periods policing student breaks and writing them up is really sort of an insult to teachers. They have subject specific knowledge to teach - they aren't mall cop style babysitters.

Thankfully our high school didn’t treat kids like kindergartners this year. Lunch time phone use was ok even with the state law. I suspect they will be lenient again next year. I’m not too worried.

Is it ok under state law?
Virginia public schools are required to implement "bell-to-bell" bans on student cell phone and smart device use. Under state law, students must keep their phones turned off and stored away for the entire academic day, including during lunch and class changes.

https://www.ffxnow.com/2026/04/13/student-cell-phone-ban-strengthened-under-newly-signed-law-from-fairfax-senator/

It's only a problem if the state sends someone to monitor. The old law said no devices any time for ES and MS but that is not what happened in 2025-2026.

Also, there is a real limit to any sort of consequence: "However, the law forbids school divisions from suspending or expelling a student for a cell phone violation."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have to believe this thread has been discovered by teens. Surely there aren't parents actively helping their kid find ways to skirt policies that are enforced for the greater good of all students?

I hope the punishments next year for phone use become "phone is held for 2 weeks at school" or "parent must come check the phone into the office daily" or something so ridiculously disruptive to the parents' lives that they are encouraged to actually parent their child's phone use.

I wouldn't worry about that! When the line to collect the phones becomes another 20+ minutes to the school day, that will be a natural consequence of kids taking their phones out at lunch. Miss the bus, walk home, or call your parents to get you. Sooner or later, it'll start to be a greater problem for the kid/family. So let them do what they want. Let the parents provide burner phones if they want. They'll need to buy a good supply of those burner phones otherwise the natural consequence will still become an issue for them.

Heck, hopefully the administration at these schools are looking at this thread and can implement a delayed return policy for the phone (same day, 20 minutes after school has been dismissed) and let the chips fall where they may. Guarantee this is a problem which will then self-correct instantaneously, within the first two weeks of school.

That. Is. Brilliant.

+10000

Thank you to the poster! At our HS, the PTA is engaging with the Administration about best way to implement the new policy. I'm most definitely bringing this to their attention.

If you actually think anyone is going to wait 20 minutes after school to return phones you are more delusional than I thought. lol! Go ahead and introduce this idea. They are going to nod and say we will think about it and then laugh behind your back at the absurdity of it. You parents are so dumb! As if any teacher or Gatehouse listens to your dumb ideas!!!! Thanks for the laugh.

Why wouldn’t they? All staff has to stay after school anyway. It’s in our contract hours.

At my school, as soon as I see a phone, I email the security team and write the referral for the device. Someone comes and picks it up within a few minutes, and it is held in the office until the end of the day. If the kid refuses to give me the phone, they go with security to speak to the administrator with a referral for insubordination.


The second time, they don’t get the device back until they’ve served their detention. The third time, they don’t get it back until the parent comes in to collect the device, has a meeting with admin, and the student serves a day of ISS.

It works. I still write one or two referrals a week, but at the beginning of the school year I was writing one or two per day.

I fully admit one of the administrators is a slacker and rarely follows up, but the other 3 are awesome and consequences are assigned every time.

This isn’t going to happen for lunch infractions. Sorry. It’s just too ridiculous.

Agreed. Class time phone usage - sure. But the idea that teachers, already overworked, underpaid, and with not enough time to do their actual job, are going to spend periods policing student breaks and writing them up is really sort of an insult to teachers. They have subject specific knowledge to teach - they aren't mall cop style babysitters.

Thankfully our high school didn’t treat kids like kindergartners this year. Lunch time phone use was ok even with the state law. I suspect they will be lenient again next year. I’m not too worried.

The law was passed in April and goes into effect starting July 1. Guess we will need to take a break and see how it plays out in the various HSs across the county. I'm sure some will be totally lax about it. I'm also sure some of the top HSs will absolutely figure out ways to enforce it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have to believe this thread has been discovered by teens. Surely there aren't parents actively helping their kid find ways to skirt policies that are enforced for the greater good of all students?

I hope the punishments next year for phone use become "phone is held for 2 weeks at school" or "parent must come check the phone into the office daily" or something so ridiculously disruptive to the parents' lives that they are encouraged to actually parent their child's phone use.

I wouldn't worry about that! When the line to collect the phones becomes another 20+ minutes to the school day, that will be a natural consequence of kids taking their phones out at lunch. Miss the bus, walk home, or call your parents to get you. Sooner or later, it'll start to be a greater problem for the kid/family. So let them do what they want. Let the parents provide burner phones if they want. They'll need to buy a good supply of those burner phones otherwise the natural consequence will still become an issue for them.

Heck, hopefully the administration at these schools are looking at this thread and can implement a delayed return policy for the phone (same day, 20 minutes after school has been dismissed) and let the chips fall where they may. Guarantee this is a problem which will then self-correct instantaneously, within the first two weeks of school.

That. Is. Brilliant.

+10000

Thank you to the poster! At our HS, the PTA is engaging with the Administration about best way to implement the new policy. I'm most definitely bringing this to their attention.

If you actually think anyone is going to wait 20 minutes after school to return phones you are more delusional than I thought. lol! Go ahead and introduce this idea. They are going to nod and say we will think about it and then laugh behind your back at the absurdity of it. You parents are so dumb! As if any teacher or Gatehouse listens to your dumb ideas!!!! Thanks for the laugh.

Why wouldn’t they? All staff has to stay after school anyway. It’s in our contract hours.

At my school, as soon as I see a phone, I email the security team and write the referral for the device. Someone comes and picks it up within a few minutes, and it is held in the office until the end of the day. If the kid refuses to give me the phone, they go with security to speak to the administrator with a referral for insubordination.


The second time, they don’t get the device back until they’ve served their detention. The third time, they don’t get it back until the parent comes in to collect the device, has a meeting with admin, and the student serves a day of ISS.

It works. I still write one or two referrals a week, but at the beginning of the school year I was writing one or two per day.

I fully admit one of the administrators is a slacker and rarely follows up, but the other 3 are awesome and consequences are assigned every time.

This isn’t going to happen for lunch infractions. Sorry. It’s just too ridiculous.

Agreed. Class time phone usage - sure. But the idea that teachers, already overworked, underpaid, and with not enough time to do their actual job, are going to spend periods policing student breaks and writing them up is really sort of an insult to teachers. They have subject specific knowledge to teach - they aren't mall cop style babysitters.

Thankfully our high school didn’t treat kids like kindergartners this year. Lunch time phone use was ok even with the state law. I suspect they will be lenient again next year. I’m not too worried.

The law was passed in April and goes into effect starting July 1. Guess we will need to take a break and see how it plays out in the various HSs across the county. I'm sure some will be totally lax about it. I'm also sure some of the top HSs will absolutely figure out ways to enforce it.

The top HSs with fewer behavior problems and higher achievers can afford to be more lax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have to believe this thread has been discovered by teens. Surely there aren't parents actively helping their kid find ways to skirt policies that are enforced for the greater good of all students?

I hope the punishments next year for phone use become "phone is held for 2 weeks at school" or "parent must come check the phone into the office daily" or something so ridiculously disruptive to the parents' lives that they are encouraged to actually parent their child's phone use.

I wouldn't worry about that! When the line to collect the phones becomes another 20+ minutes to the school day, that will be a natural consequence of kids taking their phones out at lunch. Miss the bus, walk home, or call your parents to get you. Sooner or later, it'll start to be a greater problem for the kid/family. So let them do what they want. Let the parents provide burner phones if they want. They'll need to buy a good supply of those burner phones otherwise the natural consequence will still become an issue for them.

Heck, hopefully the administration at these schools are looking at this thread and can implement a delayed return policy for the phone (same day, 20 minutes after school has been dismissed) and let the chips fall where they may. Guarantee this is a problem which will then self-correct instantaneously, within the first two weeks of school.

That. Is. Brilliant.

+10000

Thank you to the poster! At our HS, the PTA is engaging with the Administration about best way to implement the new policy. I'm most definitely bringing this to their attention.

If you actually think anyone is going to wait 20 minutes after school to return phones you are more delusional than I thought. lol! Go ahead and introduce this idea. They are going to nod and say we will think about it and then laugh behind your back at the absurdity of it. You parents are so dumb! As if any teacher or Gatehouse listens to your dumb ideas!!!! Thanks for the laugh.

Why wouldn’t they? All staff has to stay after school anyway. It’s in our contract hours.

At my school, as soon as I see a phone, I email the security team and write the referral for the device. Someone comes and picks it up within a few minutes, and it is held in the office until the end of the day. If the kid refuses to give me the phone, they go with security to speak to the administrator with a referral for insubordination.


The second time, they don’t get the device back until they’ve served their detention. The third time, they don’t get it back until the parent comes in to collect the device, has a meeting with admin, and the student serves a day of ISS.

It works. I still write one or two referrals a week, but at the beginning of the school year I was writing one or two per day.

I fully admit one of the administrators is a slacker and rarely follows up, but the other 3 are awesome and consequences are assigned every time.

This isn’t going to happen for lunch infractions. Sorry. It’s just too ridiculous.

Agreed. Class time phone usage - sure. But the idea that teachers, already overworked, underpaid, and with not enough time to do their actual job, are going to spend periods policing student breaks and writing them up is really sort of an insult to teachers. They have subject specific knowledge to teach - they aren't mall cop style babysitters.

Thankfully our high school didn’t treat kids like kindergartners this year. Lunch time phone use was ok even with the state law. I suspect they will be lenient again next year. I’m not too worried.

The law was passed in April and goes into effect starting July 1. Guess we will need to take a break and see how it plays out in the various HSs across the county. I'm sure some will be totally lax about it. I'm also sure some of the top HSs will absolutely figure out ways to enforce it.

The top HSs with fewer behavior problems and higher achievers can afford to be more lax.

Yes. And since we are at one of those schools I’m not worried.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or it can come up in the recommendation letters much more easily... "Solid student with problematic cell phone usage...."

I get you’re trolling but to even make joke at all…

But you see, that's the beauty of breaking the rules. You ask for the recommendation, it's absolutely within the teacher's right to point out the most obvious issue. You don't want to be exposed to that, then don't break the rules. Very simple ask.

The ask would be for a recommendation from a teacher who isn't miserable and malicious and wants to see their student succeed.

If you think teachers don't talk amongst themselves when they get recommendation requests, there is some property I would like to sell you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or it can come up in the recommendation letters much more easily... "Solid student with problematic cell phone usage...."

I get you’re trolling but to even make joke at all…

But you see, that's the beauty of breaking the rules. You ask for the recommendation, it's absolutely within the teacher's right to point out the most obvious issue. You don't want to be exposed to that, then don't break the rules. Very simple ask.

The ask would be for a recommendation from a teacher who isn't miserable and malicious and wants to see their student succeed.

If you think teachers don't talk amongst themselves when they get recommendation requests, there is some property I would like to sell you.

If don’t want to write a recommendation, the talking should be “can you believe student x asked me to write a recommendation? I of course told them no since no way I could or would want to write them a helpful recommendation?”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or it can come up in the recommendation letters much more easily... "Solid student with problematic cell phone usage...."

I get you’re trolling but to even make joke at all…

But you see, that's the beauty of breaking the rules. You ask for the recommendation, it's absolutely within the teacher's right to point out the most obvious issue. You don't want to be exposed to that, then don't break the rules. Very simple ask.

The ask would be for a recommendation from a teacher who isn't miserable and malicious and wants to see their student succeed.

If you think teachers don't talk amongst themselves when they get recommendation requests, there is some property I would like to sell you.

If don’t want to write a recommendation, the talking should be “can you believe student x asked me to write a recommendation? I of course told them no since no way I could or would want to write them a helpful recommendation?”

That would be the professional thing to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Or it can come up in the recommendation letters much more easily... "Solid student with problematic cell phone usage...."

I get you’re trolling but to even make joke at all…

But you see, that's the beauty of breaking the rules. You ask for the recommendation, it's absolutely within the teacher's right to point out the most obvious issue. You don't want to be exposed to that, then don't break the rules. Very simple ask.

The ask would be for a recommendation from a teacher who isn't miserable and malicious and wants to see their student succeed.

If you think teachers don't talk amongst themselves when they get recommendation requests, there is some property I would like to sell you.

If don’t want to write a recommendation, the talking should be “can you believe student x asked me to write a recommendation? I of course told them no since no way I could or would want to write them a helpful recommendation?”

That would be the professional thing to do.

Many teachers are unprofessional though.

[Anonymous]

This is why I’m glad I graduated when I did, because FCPS is run by the stupidest effing people.

Students should have time to look at their phones to see if their is any responsibilities for them to fulfill.

Maybe students should be issued a “work” phone that they can use to communicate with their parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why I’m glad I graduated when I did, because FCPS is run by the stupidest effing people.

Students should have time to look at their phones to see if their is any responsibilities for them to fulfill.

Maybe students should be issued a “work” phone that they can use to communicate with their parents.

It’s a state law, not an FCPS rule without the VA requirement. Why would the criticism be placed against FCPS?

[Anonymous]

I'm on my phone now in the HS bathroom. Its disgusting. Thanks you parents on this board for fighting for students rights to use or phones in class that would be better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm on my phone now in the HS bathroom. Its disgusting. Thanks you parents on this board for fighting for students rights to use or phones in class that would be better.

Is someone forcing you at gunpoint to look at your phone?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why I’m glad I graduated when I did, because FCPS is run by the stupidest effing people.

Students should have time to look at their phones to see if their is any responsibilities for them to fulfill.

Maybe students should be issued a “work” phone that they can use to communicate with their parents.

For hundreds of years, people made plans, worked, and fulfilled responsibilities without phones.
These kids can too.
And cut the goddamn umbilical cord!!