Devices confiscated 1,602 times from Hanover County Public Schools students during 2024-25 school year

HANOVER COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Mobile devices were confiscated 1,602 times from Hanover County Public Schools students during the 2024-25 school year.

According to the school division's policy, all mobile devices, headphones and earbuds must be turned off and out of sight during the school day, including during class changes and lunch periods.

"This begins when a student enters the building and does not end until the dismissal bell rings," the policy said.

Students who violate the policy have their device and/or headphones confiscated by the administrator until either the end of the school day or parent pickup.

Additional consequences differ based on a student's school level (elementary or secondary) and the number of times they have violated the cell phone policy.

Data shared by a school division spokesperson shows that throughout the 2024-25 school year, mobile devices were confiscated from students 1,662 times at schools throughout the county.

High schoolers made up about 79% of district-wide confiscations, with 1,277. Middle schoolers made up roughly 20%, with 323 confiscations, and elementary schoolers had only 2 confiscations, making up less than 1%.

Mechanicsville High School had the highest number of confiscations throughout the school district, with 394 instances, according to school officials.

Atlee High School reportedly had the second-highest number of confiscations, with 353 instances.

These were followed by 334 confiscations from Patrick Henry High School students, then 210 confiscations at Liberty Middle School, and 195 confiscations at Hanover High School.

Oak Knoll Middle School students' devices were reportedly confiscated 57 times and students' devices at Chickahominy Middle School were confiscated 45 times.

Bell Creek Middle School had 11 confiscations, data shows.

Other schools throughout the district, mostly comprised of elementary schools, had 1 or no confiscations.

Folks can view the school division's policies for both elementary and secondary schools online.

To view the full back-to-school guide for Hanover County Public Schools, click here.