We, the undersigned parents and educators of Newhall School District, call on the Governing Board to adopt a policy eliminating individual device use for students in Transitional Kindergarten through 2nd grade, effective the 2026–27 school year.

The evidence is clear and growing:

• A Canadian longitudinal study of nearly 2,500 children found that higher levels of screen time were directly associated with missed developmental milestones at ages 3–5.
• The American Academy of Pediatrics, in its major February 2026 policy update, explicitly advises families to delay the introduction of personal tablets, warning that solo device use hinders parental monitoring and displacement of offline learning.
• The Medford School District in Oregon took this step in 2026.
• Los Angeles Unified School District voted unanimously in April 2026 to curb classroom screen time.

Districts across California are acting — Newhall should too.

Our children’s most critical years for language, social, and cognitive development are TK through 2nd grade. This is not the time for screens. It is the time for teachers, books, play, and peer interaction.

We are not asking the district to abandon technology. We are asking it to protect the developmental window when it matters most. Research-based, grade-appropriate guidelines exist. We are asking Newhall to adopt them.

Specifically, we request the Governing Board:

1. Eliminate individual device use for all TK–2nd grade students in Newhall School District.
2. Direct the Superintendent to develop an implementation plan by the start of the 2026–27 school year.
3. Commit to transparency with families about how and how much technology is used in all grade levels.
   We will be present at the June 9, 2026 public hearing on the LCAP to make this request directly. This petition represents our community’s voice.

Beyond TK–2, we are also asking the district to address the following across all grade levels, as detailed in our full written submission to the board:

1. Replace 1:1 devices for grades 3–6 with a shared cart or lab model for curriculum-appropriate use only.
2. Block student access to YouTube, gaming, video-streaming, and social media on all school-issued devices.
3. Require all instructional apps to be ad-free.
4. Disable student access to generative AI tools until the district can demonstrate the technology is safe, legal, and effective, and until age-appropriate guidelines are established.
5. Require explicit parental consent for each app that collects student data, per COPPA and FTC guidelines—especially critical given that up to 89% of recommended educational software has been shown to actively track and profile children's data.
6. Publish a maintained list of all technology tools in use by grade level, and disclose approximate daily screen time annually.
7. Create clear opt-out pathways for families who prefer paper-and-pen instruction without penalty, ensuring our children develop the tactile handwriting, reading comprehension, and deep cognitive retention skills that screens actively erode.
8. Require all EdTech products to meet independent standards for efficacy and demonstrate that benefits outweigh potential risks before adoption.
9. Prohibit screen time from being used as a reward, incentive, or behavioral reinforcement.