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Not Class Time

When the rule does not apply

The exceptions, and how they are requested

The statute does not just permit these exceptions: it requires the Commissioner’s guidelines to authorise them. That matters: they are not a favour a school grants, and neither NJDOE nor a district can remove them.
State lawEnacted by the Legislature. Changing this requires new legislation.

The exceptions

Required, not permitted

How the guidance introduces the list

Students should be permitted to use their cell phone or other necessary internet-enabled device on school grounds during the school day in the following circumstances…Exceptions

  1. An accommodation in an IEP

    The guidelines must be consistent with state and federal law, including accommodations in an individualised education program under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. A device can be written into an IEP where the team decides it is necessary for the student's access to education, health needs or functional independence, and it is then treated as an accommodation or assistive technology.s.2.b(3)Q13

  2. A 504 plan

    The same applies to a plan under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Use must be directly related to the documented need, must match the conditions and settings described in the plan, and must follow the school's rules for appropriate and non-disruptive use.s.2.b(3)Q13

  3. A student health plan

    A health plan established to monitor or address a health condition, where a parent or guardian submits documentation from a health care professional saying the device is necessary. The guidance gives using a smartwatch to monitor blood glucose as an example.s.2.b(5)(b)Exceptions

  4. Translation services

    Listed in the statute in its own right, with no additional condition attached to it.s.2.b(5)(c)Exceptions

  5. A student caregiver

    A student who is routinely responsible for the care or well-being of a family member, on a case-by-case basis, with approval from a principal, chief school administrator or their designee, which may include a school psychologist, social worker or counselor.s.2.b(5)(d)

  6. No reasonable alternative exists

    A principal, chief school administrator or designee may authorise use for a necessary specified purpose, but only where no reasonable alternative exists to achieve the same objective. This is the route for things like a field trip, an esports club that meets during the day, or listening to music where district-issued technology cannot do it.s.2.b(5)(a)Q9Q16

  7. When required by law

    A catch-all in the statute for any use the law itself requires.s.2.b(5)(e)

  8. An emergency or a perceived threat of danger

    The guidelines must address permitting cell phone use in an emergency or in response to a perceived threat of danger, and every board policy must address it too. In practice the guidance asks districts to say when and how devices may be used, and gives the example that in a lockdown students should avoid unnecessary communication unless directed otherwise.s.2.b(4)s.2.dEmergency Communications

  9. A reasonable accommodation for educational purposes

    Separately from the list above, the statute says the guidelines may not stop a principal, chief school administrator or designee from making a reasonable accommodation for the use of internet-enabled devices for educational purposes.s.2.f

How a request is supposed to work

Through the plan's own process

Every district policy must contain a process for requesting an exception, and must describe the circumstances in which a student may need a device.Q3 Boards are encouraged to list in advance the circumstances they have already accepted as having no reasonable alternative, so that not every request starts from nothing.Q12

For accommodations, the guidance says schools should inform families of their right to request one, that approval involves the principal, superintendent or designee, that determinations must rest on documented medical, developmental or other health needs, and that they should be reviewed regularly. School nurses, case managers and IEP or 504 coordinators should be involved.Exceptions

A request to include a device in an IEP, 504 plan or health plan goes through that plan’s ordinary process, and decisions are made individually, taking account of whether the device is required for the student to receive a free appropriate public education or to participate safely in the school day.Q13

Being singled out is addressed in the guidance

The guidance anticipates it

If you have wondered whether an exception means being the one visible person with a phone, the guidance anticipates that. Districts are told to implement device-related accommodations confidentially, to train staff to recognise and honour a valid accommodation without drawing unnecessary attention to the student, to treat students with accommodations with sensitivity and dignity, and to ensure enforcement minimises disruption. It suggests one-page device-use summaries for staff that maintain student confidentiality.Exceptions

That is what the state document says should happen. Whether it happens is a district-level question, and not one we can answer from these sources.

The sentence to quote at your school

Staff training may be necessary to recognize and honor valid device accommodations without drawing unnecessary attention to the student.Exceptions

Related

  • What happens in an emergency: the period page, with the statute and guidance side by side.
  • Definitions, including the devices that fall outside the rule entirely, which is sometimes a simpler answer than an exception.
  • The NJDOE FAQs: questions 4, 12 and 13 are the exception ones.