Phones off all day, flip phones included

What happened

Old Bridge's Policy 5516, last edited in August 2026, bars students from using internet-enabled devices anywhere on school grounds during the school day under New Jersey's bell-to-bell law. Old Bridge goes further than the state minimum and extends the ban to all cell phones, including basic non-internet flip phones. Bell-to-bell covers passing time and lunch, but not school buses or field trips. Phones must stay off and may have to be locked in a school storage system that only the student can open, and the board takes no responsibility if a device is lost or damaged. School-issued laptops and platforms stay in use for schoolwork. A further revision of the policy went to first reading in August 2026.

Why it matters to families

This changes the ordinary school day for every Old Bridge student, and the flip-phone extension closes the workaround many families use to stay reachable. Parents who want to contact a child during the day have to go through the school office.

The evidence

Policy 5516 states that the board 'prohibits student use of internet-enabled devices on school grounds during the school day' under N.J.S.A. 18A:36-40b and that 'this ban shall apply to all cell phones, including non-internet-enabled devices such as flip phones'. It defines bell-to-bell as including passing time and lunch and excluding buses and field trips, and sets out the storage and password requirements. The approved August 11 and August 18, 2026 minutes record a revised Policy and Regulation 5516 going to first reading after the August 6, 2026 governance committee meeting.

The source