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Dive Brief:
- The Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday to create and enforce a screen time limit policy for students districtwide by the 2026-27 school year, marking a significant step toward curbing classroom technology use in the nation’s second-largest school system.
- The policy will include a ban on district-issued devices for students in early education through 1st grade, and it will require the district to set maximum daily and weekly screen time limits by grade level for older students. Student-led use of YouTube and other video streaming platforms will also be prohibited on district devices.
- Under the policy, which must be approved by June, schools will be encouraged to use laptop carts or computer labs for grades 2-5 and move away from 1:1 device use. LAUSD families will also be able to opt into using district-issued devices at home.
Dive Insight:
LAUSD’s push to pivot away from technology in schools comes at a time when momentum is building nationwide to limit or ban ed tech in K-12 settings. Proponents often cite concerns about the negative impacts excessive screen time has on children’s mental health and wellbeing.
The district’s screen time limit policy will be implemented one year after LAUSD began a ban on student cellphone use during the school day. LAUSD’s new screen time policy must also prohibit elementary and middle school students from using devices during passing periods, lunch and recess.
Nick Melvoin, the LAUSD board member who introduced the resolution, said during Tuesday’s board meeting that the district has “the opportunity to lead the nation to establish comprehensive, developmentally grounded screen time limits that put students before screens.”
Melvoin also cited studies that found screen time can be linked to disrupting children’s sleep and increasing symptoms of anxiety and depression in addition to other challenges.
He added that the resolution provides LAUSD the opportunity to “recalibrate” after the district doubled down on its 1:1 device program in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the district’s 1:1 device programs have ensured every student has access to technology off-campus, he said, internet access is still not accessible to everyone.
“Schools play an important role in providing digital tools, but real equity is not simply about putting a device in every child’s hand,” Melvoin said. “It means ensuring students have access to books and discussions and strong teachers and meaningful human interaction during lunch and recess. A child sitting in front of a screen for hours is not getting a better education simply because the content is online.”
Schools Beyond Screens — which received kudos from Melvoin during the board meeting — played a key role in pushing for the resolution. The national coalition was founded by LAUSD parents and teachers to advocate for student-centered classroom technology use.
“This resolution is the result of over a year of coordinated and consistent effort from parent volunteers, teachers, and students who have had enough of Big Tech’s encroachment into our schools,” Schools Beyond Screens said in a Tuesday statement.
The board’s unanimous vote signals a “new era,” the coalition said, adding that LAUSD is setting an example for other districts to follow. “Now is the time for a safe and science-backed approach to classroom technology, one that is not guided by Big Tech talking points like screen value over screen time.”
After the board approved the resolution, LAUSD Acting Superintendent Andrés Chait said in a Tuesday statement that the district remains focused on supporting “high-quality instruction, student engagement, and overall well-being” amid the changing landscape of technology in education.
“Technology is an important tool that can expand access and enhance learning, but it is most effective when used purposefully and guided by educators,” Chait said.
Other key requirements of LAUSD’s screen time policy will include encouraging the use of paper and pen assignments and providing an itemized list of purchases at the district and school level for 1:1 digital devices, software, digital tools and applications.
The resolution further calls on the district to consider a student’s disability category in addition to grade level and subject area when setting guardrails for screen time usage. LAUSD leaders should also inform the screen time policy decisions based on “research, best practices, and input from independent experts in the field, labor partners, staff, educators, students, and parents,” the resolution stated.
