How SPPS Compares
SPPS's 2025 phone policy was a real step. But districts and states around
the country are going further — regulating not just students' phones but
the schools' own screens. Five dimensions of restraint, at a glance.
strong limit in force
partial limit
no limit found
not addressed
· Click a row name for the details and sources.
The details, district by district
Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles, CA — 2nd largest U.S. district
The first major district to mandate screen-time limits on its own devices. A unanimous April 2026 board resolution requires the district to eliminate devices until 2nd grade, set daily and weekly screen caps in every grade, block YouTube on school devices, and ban devices at lunch and recess in elementary and middle school — effective 2026–27. LAUSD also learned the hard way: its $1.3 billion iPad program collapsed in 2013–15, a story that closely parallels the SPPS iPad rollout of the same era.
- No school-issued devices for students before 2nd grade
- Daily and weekly screen-time limits in every grade (effective 2026–27)
- YouTube blocked on student devices; no devices at elementary/middle school lunch and recess
- Separate bell-to-bell phone ban in place since February 2025
Sources: NBC News (board resolution) · EdSource (policy detail) · Education Week · KPCC: LAUSD iPad program timeline
Fresno Unified School District
Fresno, CA
Reversing course on elementary 1:1 computing: 40,000 elementary students are returning their take-home laptops, with computer access shifting to classroom-only — supervised, purposeful in-class technology rather than around-the-clock device access.
Sources: EdSource
Simi Valley Unified School District
Simi Valley, CA
Stopped sending devices home with its younger students this year — they now stay in classroom carts. The district cited costly repairs, "inappropriate Google searches," and video games. A small district making the same move as Fresno, for plainly stated reasons.
Sources: AP via ABC News
Connecticut districts (Greenwich, Milford)
Connecticut
Targeted YouTube rollbacks: Greenwich removed YouTube from elementary school devices after students kept watching videos unrelated to learning, and Milford is implementing a YouTube-access protocol for 2025–26 — evidence that districts can pull single high-distraction platforms without touching anything else.
Sources: GovTech
Pennsylvania districts (e.g., Arlington SD)
Pennsylvania
A growing group of Pennsylvania districts is removing laptops from younger students' classrooms and buying paper textbooks again, citing screen-time backlash from parents and teachers and thin evidence that the devices improved learning.
Sources: Spotlight PA
Kansas and the 2026 state wave
State legislatures nationwide
In 2026 the screen-time question reached statehouses: Kansas enacted an outright prohibition on digital devices in elementary schools; Oklahoma capped K–5 device use at 60 minutes a day (with a similar bipartisan bill moving in Iowa); and Alabama, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia passed legislation reining in elementary instructional screen use. Trackers count 14–16 states with screen-time bills this cycle.
Sources: MultiState (legislative roundup) · NPR · Radio Iowa · AP via ABC News