A critical deadline is approaching, and SFUSD has yet to take clear action.

In September 2024, California passed the Phone-Free Schools Act, requiring all districts to adopt a policy limiting student smartphone use by July 1, 2026. Yet the San Francisco Unified School District has not introduced a comprehensive, district-wide, bell-to-bell phone-free policy. As a result, students across the district experience inconsistent expectations and unequal learning environments.

The impact of smartphones on learning is not theoretical. Students check their phones an average of 96 times per day, and each interruption can require up to 23 minutes to regain full focus. Over the course of a school day, this represents a significant erosion of instructional time and cognitive engagement. A 2023 UNESCO report spanning 14 countries found that schools implementing phone bans saw an 18.4% improvement in academic performance—especially among students who were already struggling. At the same time, the U.S. Surgeon General has identified adolescent smartphone and social media use as a national mental health crisis, citing a roughly 40% increase in teen anxiety and depression since 2012. These are measurable, compounding effects playing out daily in classrooms.

Other districts are already taking action. Los Angeles Unified and San Diego Unified have implemented district-wide phone-free school day policies, reporting improved focus, engagement, and fewer disruptions. Closer to home, Santa Clara Unified has adopted a similar approach.

SFUSD does not need to start from scratch. Roosevelt Middle School already enforces a clear, bell-to-bell policy requiring phones and personal electronic devices to be turned off and out of sight for the entire school day, including lunch and passing period. This demonstrates that a strong, enforceable policy is both feasible and effective within our own district.

A bell-to-bell phone-free policy is not punitive—it is protective. Evidence from the London School of Economics shows that removing phones from classrooms can improve test scores equivalent to adding an extra week of instruction per year, without additional funding or staffing. Schools that have adopted these policies also report improved student well-being, stronger peer relationships, and reductions in bullying. When districts implement consistent phone-free environments, students reconnect socially and academically in ways that fragmented attention simply does not allow.

We are calling on SFUSD to adopt a district-wide policy requiring all personal electronic devices—including phones, earbuds, and smartwatches—to be turned off and stored out of sight for the entire school day, with clear and consistent enforcement across all campuses.

We urge the Board of Education to publicly discuss and adopt this policy well before the state deadline. Delayed action risks a rushed, minimal-compliance policy rather than a thoughtful, effective standard that truly supports students.

Every student deserves a distraction-free learning environment—not just those at schools with stricter enforcement.