In September 2024, California’s Governor, Gavin Newsom, signed the Phone-Free Schools Act (AB 3216). On July 1, 2026, all California schools will be required to have a set policy in place that either limits or prohibits the use of phones in schools. 

The Phone-Free School Act requires each school district to develop its own policy, taking input from educators and parents. The policy must allow students to have access to their phones in the case of emergencies, to manage health care needs, or when authorized by the district for educational purposes.  

Each school in the San Mateo Union High School District (SMUHSD) has a teacher and one student representative to advocate for their school. The representatives meet to form a committee. This committee will discuss possible regulations for the phone policy, which will be implemented at the start of the next school year. 

The Mills teacher representative is Alexis Castaneda. Alexis is a biotech and biology teacher at Mills. They mention that the main concern with the current phone policy at Mills is the “inconsistency that varies between all the teachers.” When speaking with Alexis, they noted that their hope for this new policy will be “an aligned policy across teachers, so that it’s less confusing for both students and for families and for teachers as well.” 

Along with the teacher representative, there is also a student representative from each school. The Mills student representative is Kailee Bernabe, a ninth grader. Kailee’s role on the committee is to attend the meetings and make sure the students’ perspective is heard. Kailee emphasized that her goal alongside Mills’ teacher representative is “to find a policy that works for all schools and is beneficial to all.”