RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The Richmond City School Board is set to host a series of listening sessions to gather community feedback on implementing a cell phone-free policy in city schools.
These sessions will offer parents, students and members of the Richmond Public Schools community a chance to share their thoughts on the proposed guidelines before the final policy is established.
The school board’s initiative comes in the wake of an Executive O rder issued by Governor Glenn Youngkin two months ago, which mandated that the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) develop strategies for phone-free classrooms.
Following this order, the department provided specific phone usage guidelines for elementary, middle, and high school students, recommending that phones be off and out of sight from the start of the school day until dismissal, from bell-to-bell .
In response to this directive, the Richmond City School Board has scheduled three listening sessions to further refine the policy based on community input. The first two sessions will be held in person, while the final session will be conducted virtually. The meetings are scheduled for: