New LBUSD Cellphone Policies Go Into Effect

On Sept. 4, 2025, the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) implemented a new district-wide policy, restricting the use of cellphones among students during school operations. And on Jan. 26 of this year, the policy officially arrived into full effect.

The implementation of this new policy is a part of California’s Assembly Bill (AB) 3216, otherwise known as the Phone-Free School Act, a new bill that was signed on Sept. 23, 2024, and requires all California School Districts to adopt policies that restrict or limit the use of smartphones among students, during school hours, by July 1, 2026.

In an official press release published on the California State Portal’s website, the Phone-Free School Act was designed with the intention of improving mental health, academic success and social well-being of students.

According to Program Administrator for the Communications Department at LBUSD Chris Itson, the assembly bill is a major step forward in improving student education across California.

“It’s about time,” said Itson during an interview with Beachcomber. “It was very timely that we needed it to happen, and I think that the policy being codified into law really supported schools and being able to have cohesive district-wide plans. There’s a lot of schools that have had their own policies in place and I think this really accelerated to become the norm across the state. So I was very happy when it happened.”

According to an official press release issued by the LBUSD, the district’s policies regarding the Phone-Free School Act is broken down into the following guidelines:

• Grades TK–8: Devices must remain powered off and stored in backpacks/bags for the entire school day, including before and after-school programs.
• Grades 9–12: Devices must remain powered off and stored during instructional time, from the beginning to the end of each class period.
• All Students: Devices are prohibited in restrooms, locker rooms, on field trips and during other school-day learning experiences.

Since the assembly bill’s official signing back in 2024, several school districts out of Long Beach have adopted policies and rules that limit or fully ban the use phones among students, including:

• Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)
• Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD)
• San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD)

The subject of the LBUSD, and California school districts in general, implementing cellphone policies in schools has been an ongoing discussion in social media platforms and online message boards – with some believing the policies can help improve the wellbeing and focus of students, while others have raised concerns involving safety and communication.

“I’m ok with that,” said one Facebook user, regarding the LBSUD cellphone ban. “They’ll survive and so will the parents. Call the front office if it’s an emergency.”

“I do not have children, however if the phone is turned off and a child goes missing how will they find them?” commented one person on Instagram. “I don’t agree with turning off the phone. Silent and do not use it during class, I support.”

Chris Itson shared that the LBUSD has received some pushback regarding the new policies in place, from both students and parents, but not many in particular. According to Itson, this is in part due to several of the schools in the LBUSD having previously set their own unique cellphone policies, before Gov. Newsom’s assembly bill was put into effect.

“Of course, with students you’re going to have some pushback because they’re addicted to their phones,” said Itson. “This has become part of our culture now, so the concept is very frustrating for them, but I will say that many are doing just fine. And many kids already have things in place at their schools, maybe not as heavy restrictions as we have now, so a lot of them are already used to it.”

When it came to the parents of LBUSD students, Itson said they’ve been overall supportive and understanding of the new policies being added, with only some being concerned about how they’ll be able to contact their child in the case of an emergency.

“We’ve done a lot of parent outreach,” said Itson. “I go out a lot and present to parents the science of what’s really happening with social media and smartphones. The only concern we’ve had from parents is safety, that they’re not going to be able to get a hold of their child. Because we live in a world now where you have access to communicating with somebody any moment of the day.

Itson continued: “So parents were concerned about students not being able to wear their smartwatch or have the phone on, but we’ve done a lot of conversations and answered questions, and supported principals when they were talking to concerned parents about, if you really look at the nuts and bolts of our process, it’s just often in their backpack all day.”

According to the official text of the Phone-Free School Act, the limiting or restricting of students using their cellphones in schools may be exempt in the event of an emergency.

Itson also added that, with time, the policies implemented by the LBUSD and its schools regarding cellphone usage in classrooms may update or change, in order to meet any and all regulations set by the Phone-Free School Act.

“The law actually says that we are to evaluate the effectiveness and modify as needed,” said Itson. “I don’t see it ultimately getting more restrictive, but there’s going to be certain things that just have to happen for it to work in consistency, so I don’t see it drastically changing.”

Itson continued: “The only thing I could see changing is that, see, while there are the minimum requirements and the mandated accommodations and exceptions, other than that, school sites can add additional restrictions based on their school site.”

For more information on the LBUSD’s new cellphone policy, you can visit their official website at https://www.lbschools.net/