MCPS has announced that it will be revising its personal mobile device (PMD) policy for the 2025-2026 school year.

MCPS sent out a mass email headlined “Less Phone Time Means More Learning Time” to staff, students and other community members announcing their accelerated focus towards cracking down on cell phone usage in schools.

This new initiative continues to emphasize the county’s previous motions towards minimizing PMD usage in schools. With these reinforced limits, the county hopes to see increases in student productivity and participation in class.

While MCPS states that no grade levels will be permitted to use PMDs during instructional time, principals can override this rule, allowing for limited cell phone usage if it’s seen as ‘beneficial’ to instructional material. What falls under the category of beneficial is up to the principal’s discretion. Exceptions to this policy will continue to be made for medical and learning disabilities.

“I do believe [phones] can have a benefit if they’re used for the right reasons, but if they’re abused, then they don’t help anyone,” sophomore Jackson Nathan said.

Under the new initiative, elementary and middle schoolers will also no longer be permitted to use their PMDs during lunch hours.

This policy update doesn’t come as a surprise, with MCPS recently piloting a program in 11 schools throughout the county, attempting to measure the effectiveness of placing further restrictions on PMD usage throughout the school day.

“I don’t think there should be [a new cell phone policy], because I think there are rules established that people already follow,” junior Eloise Hill said.

In February, a school board meeting was held where two principals from schools implementing the new program agreed that their schools saw improved classroom behavior and increased focus with the new PMD policies. Subsequently, MCPS announced that they’d be updating their cell phone policies pertaining to the 2025-2026 school year.

When it comes to the implementation of these new policies, their effectiveness across the county will come down to how students and staff work together to adapt to these changes.

MCPS also included that they will be updating their Student Code of Conduct over the summer, which will outline how regulating PMD misuse should be handled county-wide according to the new policy.