The Virginia Department of Education released a bill Thursday that would ban cellphone use in schools for most of the school day. A Richmond school followed suit, restricting cellphone use in schools earlier this year.

“The kids will live up to your expectations, you just have to have expectations,” said Annet Dabney, principal of Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Richmond’s East End, who was in charge when the school went cellphone-free in January.

“It was hard, you know, just trying to get the message across: If we take your phone away and you can focus on class, you’ll improve your academic performance, you’ll learn more, and you’ll enjoy class more,” Dabney told Radio IQ.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order in July for a statewide cellphone-free learning policy. The Department of Education released its model draft on Thursday. It will now be put out to the public for comment before schools are expected to implement similar or stricter policies starting in 2025.

MLK’s program was part of a Richmond Public Schools pilot project that gave a handful of schools the option to use bags that are sealed by teachers as students enter the building.

Dabney said the program has gone well and preliminary test results suggest it has helped.

But it hasn’t been easy. The principal said students have resisted, and some have figured out how to open the bag ties when they realised the rule would remain in place. But working with everyone involved can help take some of the pressure off.

“This cannot be done without the consent of the children, the parents and the staff, because it will be catastrophic,” said Dabne.

Enforcement was based on the four-violation principle: first there was a warning, then a call to the student’s parents at home, and finally a request to the parents to leave the cell phone at home altogether.

Most notably, the pilot project avoided punishments that would have resulted in children being removed from the classroom. Renesha Parks is the Chief Wellness Officer for Richmond Public Schools. She worked with the company that made the cell phone cases to develop the pilot project.

She said the pilot project used restorative punishment and provided one-on-one sessions with some of the worst offenders, in some cases leading to referral to mental health services.

“Our students come as they are, but they also have a life outside of school,” Parks said.

And as RPS moves away from the pilot project and into Youngkin’s new phone-free world, she hopes to get feedback from everyone involved before a department policy is approved in December.

“We are really interested in hearing from our families and students so that no matter what policy we put in place, everyone is aware of the expectations and knows what happens if someone violates the policy,” Parks said.

MLK will participate in its Cell Phone Freedom pilot project during the first semester, implementing a new policy that aligns with new state guidelines expected in 2025.

The state’s draft policy is available for public review before it is expected to be adopted in September. Shortly thereafter, all schools are expected to meet or exceed the policy.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radiowas made possible with the support of Virginia Education Association.