Overview
- The Los Angeles Unified School Board voted unanimously on Tuesday, June 23, 2026 to adopt a phased policy that bans routine device use in preschool through 1st grade starting in August and adds graded screen-time caps for older grades.
- The limits set specific daily or weekly maximums such as 0 minutes for preschool–1st grade, 20 minutes per day for grades 2–3 and subject-based weekly caps for middle and high school, and they include clear exceptions for computer-heavy courses, district and state tests, and students with disabilities.
- To enforce the rules the district plans to buy laptop carts and install tracking and blocking software, with estimated one-time equipment costs of $4.25 million and about $1 million in annual software fees to monitor minutes and block nonapproved sites.
- Reactions were mixed: parent advocacy groups hailed the policy as a model and urged stricter minute limits plus a moratorium on classroom AI, while some parents and board members warned the changes could worsen access gaps for low-income families and raise privacy and monitoring burdens.
- The move reverses pandemic-era daily take-home device practice and follows national guidance questioning early-childhood screen exposure, and it could influence other large districts as officials and teachers wrestle with classroom logistics and AI rules.