Students at Palo Alto High and Gunn High could lose access to personal laptops and cell phones under a parent-led campaign that wants the district to reverse course on classroom technology.

Candice Wei, a Palo Verde Elementary parent who founded the Palo Alto chapter of Schools Beyond Screens, has gathered 228 petition signatures urging the PAUSD board of education to adopt sweeping restrictions on student screen time. The petition asks for an all-day cell phone ban, a return to shared computer carts instead of personal laptops, physical homework assignments, blocked access to AI sites, a prohibition on digital devices for first graders and younger, and the right for families to opt out of educational technology platforms.

"We are the adults in the room," Wei told Palo Alto Online. "We're supposed to be protecting our kids."

The petition has drawn support in a city where many parents work in the tech industry, building the very platforms they want removed from their children's classrooms.

Wei started her campaign after her kindergartner was assigned i-Ready online exercises at Palo Verde Elementary. The platform is embedded in PAUSD's official academic goals: the district aims for 45% of K-5 students scoring below grade level to hit i-Ready stretch growth targets annually, according to district records.

The petition puts parents on a collision course with students. In October 2025, the PAUSD board sided with high schoolers who protested a full phone ban, settling on a partial policy that allows phone use between classes. Student board representative Dylan Chen warned at that meeting that students would "hold anyone that tries to do this accountable" and would leave campus to use devices if a full ban were imposed.

Board Trustee Alison Kamhi was the dissenting voice in October, citing research on the negative effects of screen time on youth, including findings from Jonathan Haidt's "The Anxious Generation."

PAUSD has no overarching policy on AI use in classrooms, leaving individual teachers to set their own rules. That gap has already generated conflict: parent Takashi Kato filed a $150 million federal lawsuit against the district in June 2026 after his son was accused of using AI to write an essay. PAUSD denied all claims.

The local effort mirrors a national wave. At least six states enacted school screen-time restrictions in 2026, according to Politico, and the Los Angeles Unified School District voted June 23 to restrict screen time before second grade. Schools Beyond Screens national director Jodi Carreon called it "the defining education issue of our time."

Wei and other parents plan to address the board at its first meeting of the 2026-27 school year, expected in August. The school year begins August 13. The petition remains open at fournorms.com.

The PAUSD board's five elected members are President Shounak Dharap, Vice President Rowena Chiu, and trustees Shana Segal, Alison Kamhi, and Josh Salcman. Meetings are held at 25 Churchill Ave., Palo Alto.