District policy · 2026-2027
City of Burlington Public Schools
Burlington County · K-12 district · Grades PreK-12
Last verified · policy year 2026-2027 · policy 5516
Stricter than the state
Read this entry with one caveat
Before and after school is recorded as unverified, and that is a limitation of this schema rather than a gap in the research. The district's adopted Regulation 5516 (17 August 2026) gives four grade bands three different answers: grades 3-6 are prohibited from using a device on school grounds before or after the regular school day, grades 7-8 are permitted to use one outside the building before the start of the day and after dismissal, and grades 9-12 are permitted on school grounds at both ends. No single value in this field is true for the whole district, and a previous version recorded prohibited_with_exceptions, which the regulation reverses for two of the four bands. The same shape applies to buses: grades 3-6 and 9-12 are permitted, PreK-2 and 7-8 are not addressed. The band-by-band detail is in gradeBandDifferences. Note also that we cite the superintendent's letter, not the adopted regulation, and the letter is narrower than the regulation on both points.
Period by period
3 of 6 not yet verifiedEach row is either something this district’s own document says, or an explicit admission that we have not found it. We never infer one period from another. Passing time, lunch and study hall, the three periods the statute never mentions, are marked with an amber rule.Q8
- Class time
- Not allowed
- Phones and other personal internet-enabled devices are prohibited.Instructional time. Restricted under the statute itself.
- Passing timeNot named in the statute
- Not allowed
- Phones and other personal internet-enabled devices are prohibited.Between classes. NJDOE guidance restricts it; the statute never mentions it.
- LunchNot named in the statute
- Not allowed
- Phones and other personal internet-enabled devices are prohibited.On-campus lunch. NJDOE guidance restricts it; the statute never mentions it.
- Study hallNot named in the statute
- Not yet verified
- We have not found a source that states this district's rule for this period. We have not guessed one.Study hall. NJDOE guidance restricts it; the statute never mentions it.
- School bus
- Not yet verified
- We have not found a source that states this district's rule for this period. We have not guessed one.State guidance permits phones on buses unless the district goes further. A district rule here is stricter than the state floor.
- Before and after school
- Not yet verified
- We have not found a source that states this district's rule for this period. We have not guessed one.State guidance permits phones outside the school day unless the district goes further.
How phones are stored
A local choice, not a state oneVaries by school
Different schools in the district use different storage methods.
Storage differs by grade band: PreK-2 students may not bring devices to school at all; grades 3-6 and 7-8 use their lockers; grades 9-12 store devices in a backpack, locker or personal vehicle until dismissal.
By grade: PreK-Grade 2 is a possession ban, not merely a use ban: "Students may not bring personal internet-enabled devices to school." At Burlington City High School only, students may use devices during breakfast before the instructional day begins.
What happens if the rule is broken
Violations are addressed under the Student Code of Conduct and Board Regulation 5516; parents and guardians are notified as appropriate. No fixed schedule of steps is published.
Asking for an exception
The statute names what a policy must accommodateUse is permitted where "authorized by school administration or permitted by law." The district states it will continue to comply with IDEA and Section 504. No standalone waiver form is described.
The statute itself names circumstances a policy must accommodate, including an IEP, a 504 plan, a documented health plan, translation needs, certain caregiving responsibilities, and emergencies.s.2.b(3)-(5)
In the district’s own words
Quoted exactly, not summarisedUnless authorized by school administration or permitted by law, students may not use personal internet-enabled devices during instructional periods, passing periods, lunch, assemblies, or other school activities.
City of Burlington Public Schools · read · Open the document
Everything else on this page is our reading of City of Burlington Public Schools’s policy. This is the policy. We quote rather than paraphrase so you can check us against the document instead of taking our word for what it says.
The highlighted words are the district’s, not ours. They are the periods the statute never names, and this district wrote them into its own rule.s.2.b(2)
Sources
1 primary, 1 corroboratingNothing on this page can be published without at least one primary source attached to it. That is enforced by the database, not by a habit.
District decisionPrimary source
District Policy for Student Internet-Enabled Devices
City of Burlington Public Schools · August 18, 2026 · checked
At Burlington City High School, students may use personal devices during breakfast before the instructional day begins. Once students are dismissed to first period, devices must be turned off, remain out of sight and sound, and be stored in a backpack, locker, or personal vehicle until dismissal.
District decisionCorroborating source · reporting, not an official document
New Policy for 2026-2027: Student Internet-Enabled Devices
City of Burlington Public Schools · checked