Students at Redwood High and Tamalpais High will lock their smartphones inside hard-shell NuKase cases the moment they arrive on campus Aug. 19, the first day of school and the first test of a phone-free policy that divided the Tamalpais Union High School District board this spring.
The cases snap shut at the start of the school day and stay locked through lunch and breaks until dismissal. Students who don't bring a phone must sign a waiver. Anyone caught with a device outside its case will have it confiscated and turned over to the principal, who may contact a parent.
The district's governing board voted 3-2 on April 14 to adopt the policy. Trustees Jennifer Holden, Kevin Saavedra and board President Cynthia Roenisch voted yes. Trustees Ida Green and Emily Uhlhorn voted no.
The final purchase, approved at the May 5 board meeting, came to $112,905.85 from the district's general fund. That's higher than the $104,000 estimate Superintendent Courtney Goode presented in April. Annual upkeep is projected at $0 to $10,000. Students who break a case will be charged for it, Goode said at the June 16 board meeting.
The spending drew pointed dissent.
Uhlhorn said at the May 5 meeting that she supported a phone-free policy "starting in August" but objected to "committing right now to spending $100,000." The district is operating at a $937,000 spending deficit, and the same meeting included a 5-0 vote to lay off 17 employees for the 2026-27 school year.
Roenisch, who called the lack of a ban "educational malpractice" at a March 24 board meeting, defended the cost. "I think we have been talking about this in detail for at least three years," she said at the May meeting. "As far as delaying something we know as a harm, unconscionable."
The policy applies to all three comprehensive TUHSD campuses: Tamalpais High in Mill Valley, Redwood High in Larkspur and Archie Williams High in San Anselmo. Alternative education sites will use storage lockers instead of NuKase cases.
What students are saying
Two Redwood High seniors expressed skepticism in Marin Magazine's back-to-school guide, published Aug. 12. One 17-year-old said students with old phones could lock a decoy device while keeping their real phone in a pocket. Others noted Apple Pay won't be available for off-campus lunch purchases.
What families can do before Aug. 19
Alicia Smart, a licensed clinical psychologist and founder of Guidepost DBT in Corte Madera, urged parents to reframe the conversation at home. "Instead of asking, 'How do I get my child off their phone?' I encourage parents to ask, 'How can we help our family build a healthier relationship with screens?'" she told Marin Magazine.
Smart recommended validating a teen's frustration while holding firm on household limits, such as charging phones in the kitchen overnight rather than in bedrooms.
California's Phone-Free Schools Act, which took effect in July 2026, requires all public school districts to restrict or limit cell phone use during school hours. TUHSD's bell-to-bell lockable-case approach goes further than the minimum the law demands.
The first day of school for TUHSD students is Wednesday, Aug. 19.
