Frederick County Public Schools students returned to classrooms this week under a strict new rule: cell phones, smartwatches and wireless earbuds must be off and out of sight from the first bell until dismissal. The district's updated Regulation 118-01, dubbed “Off and Away for a Focused School Day,” took effect August 19, giving Frederick County a head start on a statewide mandate that other Maryland districts won't have to meet for another year.
The change means students cannot use personal electronic devices between classes, during lunch, or anywhere else on campus during the academic day, according to WJLA. Devices must be shut down or switched to airplane or school mode, and students can still use them before and after school and on buses outside the academic day. FCPS Board Policy 118 defines “personal mobile devices” broadly, covering not just phones but wireless headphones and earbuds, smartwatches, portable speakers, cameras and eReaders, all of which must be turned off or in airplane mode and stored out of sight, per Frederick County Public Schools Board of Education policy documents.
The local Board of Education requested early adoption of the policy ahead of Maryland's statewide requirement, according to Frederick County Public Schools. That statewide requirement comes from the Joanne C. Benson Maryland Phone-Free Schools Act, which Governor Wes Moore signed into law on May 26, mandating that all 24 Maryland public school districts establish bell-to-bell device bans and restrict social media access by the 2027–2028 academic year, as reported by Across Maryland Patch.
Built-In Exceptions and Discipline Limits
The new policy isn't a blanket ban with no flexibility. It includes exceptions for documented medical needs, IEP or 504 accommodations, and certain translation or caregiving needs, according to WJLA. Those carve-outs mirror language built into the state law itself, which exempts documented medical needs, IEP and 504 accommodations, translation tools and caregiving duties from enforcement.
Notably, the Phone-Free Schools Act explicitly prohibits local school boards from suspending or expelling students solely for violating personal electronic device policies, according to Baltimore Fishbowl. That equity safeguard reportedly helped Maryland earn a “B” grade from national child safety organizations on state policy scorecards specifically because it excludes suspension penalties as a punishment option.
A Regional and National Wave
Frederick County isn't operating in isolation. Fairfax County, Virginia, and Montgomery County, Maryland, both already have bell-to-bell restrictions on personal electronic devices in place this school year, per WJLA. Montgomery County transitioned from a looser “All Day Away” approach to strict bell-to-bell enforcement for the 2026 school year, while Howard County Public Schools adopted a policy in 2025 requiring student tech to be silenced and kept out of sight, according to CBS Baltimore.
The push reflects a broader national shift. Education Week tracking data cited by Across Maryland Patch found that by mid-2026, at least 38 states and the District of Columbia required school districts to restrict or ban student cell phone use, with 99.7% of U.S. public school principals reporting some form of local phone policy already in place. During General Assembly debates on the state bill earlier this year, lawmakers pointed to teacher complaints about classroom distraction and students recording school fights for social media as key drivers behind the legislation, according to The Daily Record. Bill sponsors also emphasized that principals, not personal devices, should handle emergency family communications during the school day.
Research Adds Weight to the Case
The policy shift also lands alongside emerging academic research on kids and screens. A July UCLA study published in Behavioral Sciences found a statistically significant connection between children owning smartphones and lower reading comprehension scores, regardless of whether the devices were visible during testing, as Hoodline previously reported. The study examined elementary and middle school students in Southern California.
Ahead of the statewide law, the Maryland State Department of Education and State Board of Education had already convened a Task Force on Student Cell Phone Use in spring 2025, passing a resolution encouraging districts to define their own expectations and partnering with the national research project “Phones in Focus,” according to the Maryland General Assembly Department of Legislative Services. That effort found most Maryland districts already maintained varying local phone rules well before the statewide mandate took shape.
Separately, the FCPS policy committee advanced Policy 115 this month, a broadened “Responsible and Appropriate Use of Technology” policy that anchors district rules on staff and student tech use while clarifying that users have no expectation of privacy on district equipment, according to Citizen Portal. The committee also addressed rules around staff-student online interactions as part of the same push.
For now, Frederick County families are adjusting to a school day with no phones in sight, while the rest of Maryland's 24 districts have until the 2027–2028 academic year to catch up.
