The district enforces New Jersey's new all-day phone rule on a notice, while the board policy behind it still dates from 2016

What happened

In September 2026 the district issued families a notice implementing New Jersey's bell-to-bell restriction on student phone use. The board policy that actually governs the subject, Policy 5516 on electronic communication and recording devices, was created in June 2008, last edited in April 2016 and adopted on 13 April 2016, and has not been re-adopted since. Its prohibition is already broad - no such device may be turned on or used on school grounds during the school day or during any curricular or school-sponsored activity, except in an emergency, outside the school day or with a supervising staff member's permission - but the devices it enumerates are cameras, pagers and beepers, personal digital assistants, two-way radios and portable fax machines, its only statutory citation is the 1990s paging-device statute, and it contains no storage or pouch requirement, no tiered discipline, and no medical or individual-education-plan accommodation language.

Why it matters to families

If a child's phone is taken, the rule that governs the consequence is the board's policy, not the notice. A family reading the policy finds a 2016 document about fax machines; a family reading the notice finds this year's rule. They should be the same document.

The evidence

Policy 5516 states that 'A student is not permitted to have turned on or use an ECRD on school grounds during the school day or when the student is participating in a curricular or school-sponsored co-curricular activity', under the heading 'Date Created: June 2008 / Date Edited: April 2016' and ending 'Adopted: 13 April 2016'. The district's own September 2026 notice to families sets out the bell-to-bell restriction separately.

The source