The Gilbert Public Schools Governing Board is considering a total ban on cellphones at K-8 schools, and further limiting their use in grades 9-12 to the cafeteria and to “quickly checking messages between classes” next year – with an outright ban coming for older students in the 2026-27 school year.
In the classroom, all district students would be required to turn off their phones or set them on silent and store them in their backpacks.
The proposed policy – which the Governing Board could adopt next month – is tighter than the district’s current no-cell-bell-to-bell policy for high school students and radically more restrictive for elementary students…