Modesto school board amends student conduct code with new cellphone ban policy
The Modesto City Schools Board of Education approved an update of the student conduct code to include its new full-day cellphone policy. The updated conduct code will state that the ban is in effect during the instructional school day, from the start of students’ first class to the end of their last.
The decision will take effect in the 2026-27 school year.
The board’s cellphone ban was approved during its March 30 meeting and was reviewed Monday night. A so-called first reading, during which the board again will review the policy’s wording, will be done on May 18.
The policy specifies that students may have their phones turned off and in their backpacks but may not use them during the school day, including passing periods and lunch.
During the public comment portion of Monday’s board meeting, two parents spoke against the cellphone ban.
One of them, Lori Paul, read aloud recent text messages between her and her son sent during the school day, which included: “Hey, practice is canceled today. Can you pick me up at regular time?” And, “I need to work on programming the robot after school. I’ll be late,” “I’m getting a migraine. I need to go home,” and “I forgot my volleyball uniform and the bus leaves at 3:45. Can you please bring it?”
“I’m concerned about the impact that this will have on students who are using their phones appropriately and responsibly and on their families,” Paul said during public comment.
“My son and many other dedicated and busy students rely on a system of reminders and calendaring to stay organized and successfully manage his busy schedule,” she continued. “He’s in honors classes. He’s in sports. He’s on the robotics team. He has a part-time job. He has family home responsibilities. So, like all of us, his phone is one of the tools that he uses to manage that.”
The board’s student representatives, Sabrina Toor and Julianna Garcia, said a partial ban allowing students to use their phone during lunchtime would be a more pragmatic approach, given that students should be taught how to use cellphones responsibly rather than simply having them banned.
“This ban also doesn’t address the root issue. The reality is that once students leave campus, phone use and the mental health problems associated with it immediately resume,” Toor said. “A policy that attempts to eliminate phones entirely during the school day does not teach students how to manage them. It just delays usage until the end of the day.”
The board members, however, were steadfast in their commitment to a full school day ban.
“It is addictive. Parents need to understand this is no different than handing your child heroin. Like this is what it’s doing to their brains. It’s doing it to ours too, don’t get me wrong,” Trustee Jolene Daley said. “But we also have a prefrontal cortex that allows us to understand we need to put limits on this. Children do not.”
Superintendent Vanessa Buitrago addressed concerns that the board’s decision departs from the community input received from students, parents and staff, which largely favored a partial ban.
“When the board or district staff go against a community recommendation, it isn’t because we’re saying that we don’t value the input or or or sometimes that we don’t agree with the input. We do believe that community input is important and valuable, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we will always make decisions based purely on community input,” Buitrago said, referencing bullying on campuses, threats by students online, and fights that are recorded and posted.
The student conduct code amendment was approved unanimously with some reconfigured language.
