With the new year underway, school districts across West Marin are weighing policies aimed at cracking down on rampant cell phone use in classrooms. Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom sent a letter to all California schools, urging them to implement stricter policies on smartphone use during class. His plea comes on the heels of recent regulations implemented in states like Florida, Indiana and Michigan, and a Pew Research survey indicating that over 70 percent of high school teachers report that student phone distractions are a “major problem.” “The evidence is clear: reducing phone use in class leads to improved concentration, better academic outcomes, and enhanced social interactions,” Gov. Newsom wrote in his letter. Marin County Superintendent John Carroll echoed the governor’s demand for action. “I’m strongly in favor of the governor’s inclination to limit or ban smartphone use in schools,” he said. “I’m encouraging all our schools to take action. Ideally, students shouldn’t have smartphones in school until at least age 16.” Teachers say that phone bans in the classroom have helped improve students’ ability to concentrate on their lessons and work in groups. Some schools have also found the bans alleviate phone-related bullying, student conflict and the mental health impacts associated with excessive smartphone use. Yet enforcing cell-phone restrictions remains a challenge for teachers, especially in the absence of schoolwide policies that require students to store their phones in lockers or designated areas. In 2019, Gov. Newsom signed a law granting school districts the authority to limit student smartphone access during school hours. In Marin, each of the 17 school districts has its own board, superintendent and policies governing phones. Some schools, like Tamalpais Union High School, are considering experimenting with locking students’ phones in pouches only unlockable by a special demagnifier at the end of classes, while smaller districts are testing systems in which students check in their phones with teachers. Bolinas-Stinson Union, like many small districts, addresses phone-related issues on an ad-hoc basis, according to Superintendent Leo Kostelnik. He said that district-wide mandates haven’t been necessary so far. “We don’t want to solve a problem that we don’t have,” he said. Administrators plan to present an updated cell-phone policy to the board during their October or November meeting. Similarly, at Shoreline Unified School District, early discussions are underway to develop a district-wide policy, according to West Marin School Principal Christy Stocker. Managing such a policy would require substantial oversight, she noted. At her school, students are expected to store their phones in their backpacks upon arriving on campus, said Ms. Stocker, who is starting her first year with the district. Previously, she served as principal of Sinaloa Middle School in Novato, where she oversaw 750 students and managed a cell-phone policy that took more policing. She found herself confiscating about four phones daily—a number she considered surprisingly low given the school’s size.