On Aug. 12, 2024, Broward County revealed their new policy: Disconnect to Reconnect, which banned all use of devices from the first school bell to the last school bell of the day for all grades. On Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025, Broward County Public Schools had a narrow vote of five-four, lifting the ban on cellular devices during lunchtime.

The rule remains for students in kindergarten through eighth grade under state law, as Broward administrators still have zero tolerance for them. High school students however, are now allowed to use phones strictly during lunchtime. Devices must remain off or in airplane mode at other times unless expressly authorized by a teacher for instruction still during the school day. This rule wasn’t active until Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025, when previously, students couldn’t use their cell phones during breaks.

The original Disconnect to Reconnect policy aimed to promote face-to-face interaction and reduce distractions in classrooms, which the aftermath made parents believe it was a positive or neutral change, but students, on the other hand, disagree with the policy. Despite this, a survey presented by govtech.com revealed a common trend: both parents and students strongly disagreed on the cell phone ban during lunchtime. Some Broward officials believed that students benefit from having cell phones during lunchtime due to academic pressure on students and adults’ incapabilities from not using their phones for a whole day, while others argued that it was too early to come to a verdict based on time and current data.

“However, limited use of cellphones during lunchtime, which will probably be about 15 to 20 minutes at most, can also be beneficial. There are arguments on both sides,” board member Jeff Holness said, who was backed by Chairwoman Debbi Hixon and board members Rebecca Thompson, Maura Bulman and Lori Alhadeff.