FILE ART - A student puts her mobile phone in a suitcase containing all students' mobile phones. (Photo by BERTRAND GUAY / AFP via Getty Images)
OAKLAND, Calif. - Students across the Oakland Unified School District, the second-largest school district in the Bay Area, returned on Monday to the classroom for the first day of the school year.
At McClymonds High School, nicknamed the "School of Champions," a $100-million renovation project is underway following a June 10 groundbreaking. The project includes renovated classrooms equipped with engineering labs, enhanced campus security, a modern cafeteria, updated locker rooms, new gym bleachers, and a new outdoor athletic field and grandstand.
Cell phone ban
What we know:
This school year also brings a major policy shift regarding technology. Under a new state law requiring districts to limit device access, Oakland Unified has enacted one of the strictest cellphone bans in the region. Students are not allowed to use cellphones, smartwatches, or other personal electronic devices during class, between classes, or during lunch, except in limited circumstances.
Elementary school students will place their phones into a lockbox at the start of morning classes. Older students will have the option to check their devices in at the beginning of the day or keep them in a lockable pouch.
District leadership emphasized that safety protocols remain intact alongside the new rules.
What they're saying:
"Safety is absolutely a priority, so we have protocols at all of our sites like we always have for parents to communicate with students," said Denise Saddler, superintendent of Oakland Unified School District. "We are rolling that out and listening to our sites that have been doing that for a while."
Other developments for the new academic year include the debut of four new Transitional Kindergarten sites and the launch of "Oakland is a Reading Town," a citywide literacy initiative rolled out alongside partner organizations.
The Source: OUSD, Supt. Denise Saddler