Ann Arbor families have until Wednesday, Aug. 12 to weigh in on a new districtwide cell phone policy that will govern how students use their devices when school starts Aug. 31.
The Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education is scheduled to take up the policy for a second briefing, and possible vote, at its Aug. 12 regular meeting at 7 p.m. at the Earhart Administration Building, 3700 Earhart Road. Families can sign up to speak through the district's community portal up to four hours before the meeting. Each speaker gets four minutes.
The policy, formally titled Policy 5900 (Student Personal Electronic Devices), is required under Michigan House Bill 4141, which Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed Feb. 10 mandating all public K-12 districts establish cell phone rules for the 2026-27 school year.
What the rules look like by grade level
The draft sets different expectations depending on age, according to MLive's reporting on the Monday, Aug. 3 Governance Committee discussion:
- Elementary (K-5): Devices must be powered off or silenced and stored in backpacks all day.
- Middle school (6-8): Phones put away all day, though students may use them outside before the first bell and after dismissal to arrange rides.
- High school (9-12): Phones away during instructional time but allowed during passing periods and lunch. Teachers may authorize use for educational purposes.
The board rejected a full bell-to-bell ban for all grade levels. Superintendent Jazz Parks cited a practical obstacle: most high school students don't use their lockers, and at Community High School, not all upperclassmen even have one.
Enforcement without suspension
Violations follow a progressive track: verbal warning, device confiscation, parent notification, temporary loss of the device and detention for repeat offenses.
"But for pulling out (a phone) where a teacher or staff person has to remind them to put it away, we will not be suspending for that," Dr. Roberta Heyward, executive director of K-8, middle and high school education, said at the Monday, Aug. 3 committee meeting, according to MLive.
The one exception: violations involving a credible concern for student or staff privacy or safety, such as recording in a locker room.
Trustee Rima Mohammad raised concerns that the policy places enforcement responsibility on individual teachers, calling it "a problem" and a fine line between empowering and burdening staff. Parks said the district would monitor whether that becomes an issue as the year proceeds.
How the policy got here
Dr. Heyward and Melita Alston first presented the draft to the full board on July 29. The Governance Committee, chaired by Board President Torchio Feaster with members Mohammad and Glynda Wilks, reviewed adjusted language on Monday, Aug. 3 via Zoom based on trustee feedback from that first briefing. No members of the public signed up to speak at the committee session.
Board Vice President Wilks said the tiered approach gives older students room to learn self-regulation. Over the past two school years, AAPS high schools have piloted limited bans, with some teachers using numbered pocket charts to collect phones at the start of each class. Those practices could continue under the new policy.
After the 2026-27 school year, the policy would be reviewed each spring. If the board does not vote Aug. 12, a backup regular meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 26.
