Come early March, no Howard County Public Schools students will be able to use their cellphones during the school day.

All devices must be silenced and put away — out of sight, out of mind — during the “student day,” according to school system policy changes. A student day is defined as from the first bell of the school day to the last one.

Currently, high schoolers can use their cellphones during lunch, in the hallways and in the classroom when a teacher says so. On occasion, middle school students may use their phones for special events, while elementary students must keep their phones in their backpacks.

By a 7-1 vote, the Howard County school board on Thursday approved the stricter rules on cellphone use.

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The policy changes go into effect March 3.

Months ago, the school system joined a local and national movement to crack down on students’ phone use in the classroom. A work group — made up of students, families, staff, county residents and community organizations — was formed. Some 9,300 people took part in a survey sent out to the community, focus groups met and the Board of Education held a public hearing.

The school board delayed voting on the work group’s initial recommendations in November. Then the board’s policy committee met and made tweaks to the policy change recommendations, which were presented to the board Thursday evening.

Despite the tweaks, board Chair Jolene Mosley voted against the policy changes.

“I feel like the current policy is fine and the student code of conduct is not OK,” Mosley said.

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Mosley wanted her fellow board members to only adapt changes to the student code of conduct that would allow school administrators to impose clear guidelines on student cellphone use during class time, not approve other recommendations.

“We’re in very uncertain times right now,” said Mosley, adding that “taking that away, where a student in high school cannot check their phone during lunch and in between classes, can be dangerous.”

Originally, the work group had recommended that high schoolers be permitted to use their phones between classes and during lunch.

The school system will collect data during the initial rollout to evaluate the policy changes, leaving room for any potential adjustments before the 2025-2026 academic year.