{"id":18585,"date":"2026-02-12T15:51:55","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T01:51:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/?p=18585"},"modified":"2026-02-12T16:35:36","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T02:35:36","slug":"2026-hawaii-board-of-education-adopts-statewide-policy-on-student-cell-phone-use-in-public-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/2026-hawaii-board-of-education-adopts-statewide-policy-on-student-cell-phone-use-in-public-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawai\u02bbi Board of Education adopts statewide policy on student cell phone use in public schools"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>HONOLULU \u2014 The Hawai\u2018i State Board of Education has adopted a new <a href=\"https:\/\/boe.hawaii.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/20251211_SAC_cellphonepolicy.pdf\">statewide policy<\/a> establishing consistent expectations for student cell phone use in public schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The policy is intended to balance the benefits of technology integration with the need to minimize classroom disruption and promote a safe and respectful learning environment. Board members noted that while the policy establishes statewide expectations, its impact will ultimately depend on a thoughtful and consistent implementation plan aligned with the Board\u2019s commitment to student learning and well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Minimum requirements under the Board policy are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>A&#039;oga tulagalua<\/strong>: Cell phone use is prohibited during school hours.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Middle and intermediate school<\/strong>: Cell phone use is prohibited during school hours.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Aoga kolisi<\/strong>: Cell phone use is prohibited during instructional time. Schools may exercise discretion regarding use outside of instructional time, including before and after school, and during designated breaks, recess, lunch and free periods.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Department will now develop implementation guidelines to take effect beginning with the 2026\u201327 school year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At Thursday\u2019s Board meeting, testifiers, including high school students, expressed support for limiting device use during instructional time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cA lot of students definitely appreciated the fact that you give high schoolers a little more leeway, and certain students were very adamant about remaining flexible at the high school level,\u201d Mia Nishiguchi, student Board of Education member, said during Thursday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is vital that students are living up to the effective usage of technology, especially with many moving onto post-secondary education or the workforce. They are not going to have any cell phone balance there,\u201d she added.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The policy also requires that guidelines establish clear and progressive consequences for violations. Exceptions are permitted in limited circumstances, including during emergencies or perceived threats to safety, when expressly authorized for instructional purposes, when required for a student\u2019s health needs as determined by a licensed physician, or when included in a student\u2019s Individualized Education Program (IEP).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Department will begin developing detailed guidance and working with schools to support implementation during the upcoming school year. Additional information, including timelines and school-level expectations, will be communicated to families and staff in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Board\u2019s action follows months of review, including <a href=\"https:\/\/boe.hawaii.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/20250918_SAC_Cellphoneuse.pdf\">statewide surveys<\/a> of schools and stakeholder feedback regarding the impact of cell phone use on student learning and well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>HONOLULU \u2014 The Hawai\u2018i State Board of Education has adopted a new statewide policy establishing consistent expectations for student cell phone use in public schools.\u00a0 The policy is intended to balance the benefits of technology integration with the need to minimize classroom disruption and promote a safe and respectful learning environment. Board members noted that [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":16859,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"856,888,893,1022,1619,1622","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","wp_popup_display_lightbox":0,"wp_popup_suppress":"","wp_popup_trigger":"","wp_popup_trigger_amount":0,"wp_popup_disable_on_mobile":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":21,"label":"News"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/HIDOE-Logo-Featured-1024x512.jpg",1024,512,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Chanel Honda","author_link":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/author\/chanel-hondak12-hi-us\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":21,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":21,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":309,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":21,"category_count":309,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-22 00:24:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"post_status","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawaiipublicschools.org\/sm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}