Safety considerations have been added to the Virginia Department of Education's (VDOE) newly-released final guidance on cell phone-free education.

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) defines cell-phone-free education in Virginia as “bell-to-bell,” meaning cell phones should be turned off and stored away from the first bell at the start of the school day until the dismissal bell.

Following Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s July 9 issuance of Executive Order 33, which aims to establish cellphone-free education to “promote the health and safety of Virginia’s K-12 students,” the Virginia Department of Education has released the final guidance for cellphone-free education for Virginia K-12 public schools.