DODEA device ban starts with new school year

May 26, 2026

Summary

Pentagon-run schools will ban students from keeping personal devices with them during the school day starting in August.

Why this matters

Families in the Defense Department school system will need to prepare for new rules on phones and other devices before the next school year. The change also places Pentagon-run schools within a broader national move to limit student cellphone use during school hours.

Students in Pentagon-run schools will no longer be allowed to keep personal electronic devices with them during the school day starting in August, when the new school year begins, according to guidance sent to parents and guardians.

Smartphones, smartwatches, tablets, Bluetooth-enabled devices, and gaming systems with internet capability must be silenced or turned off and securely stored from the start of the school day until dismissal.

The guidance said exceptions will be allowed for medical purposes, certain accommodations, special education services, and approved instructional activities such as digital photography or curriculum-based projects.

Students who need to contact home during the school day will be able to use a school telephone in a designated location with staff approval, the note said.

The letter did not say whether schools will provide secure storage for devices during instructional time, such as lockers.

Before the systemwide ban, rules on smartphone use varied across the Department of Defense Education Activity, which serves more than 65,000 children of U.S. service members and Defense Department personnel in the United States and overseas. Some schools already limited device use, while others had no restrictions.

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A former Montessori private school teacher in Beaufort County and former substitute in the public school system was charged with unlawful communication with a child, according to police.

Kalen Faye Wolfe, 47, of Hilton Head Island, was charged Friday with criminal solicitation of a minor and procuring or promoting obscenity, both felonies, according to arrest records.

The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office began investigating March 27 after a witness reported the allegation, agency spokesperson Staff Sgt. Robert Herlong said. Wolfe’s arrest warrants were issued Thursday, and she turned herself in Friday, he said.

Herlong declined to provide the nature of the allegations, the date of the alleged crime, or the victim’s age. He said investigators were still determining whether the case was connected to Wolfe’s work as an educator and whether any students were affected.

Wolfe’s contract with May River Montessori ended July 31, 2025, and there has been “no further communication” between her and the school since then, according to Catherine Donaldson, chair of the school’s board of trustees. Donaldson said the school had no further comment Tuesday.

Wolfe also worked at Sea Pines Montessori Academy before its 2025 merger with Hilton Head Preparatory School.

Under South Carolina law, criminal solicitation of a minor involves an adult contacting a minor “with the intent of persuading … or coercing” the child to participate in sexual activity or a violent crime. Procuring or promoting obscenity involves disseminating obscene material through writing, images, digital files, or performances that lack “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”
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The office said it received 647 applications by the March 1 deadline. Of those, 555 met compliance requirements and were reviewed, and 463 departments were approved for funding.

Departments requested $14.3 million statewide. The agency awarded $12,035,247.73, with an average grant of $25,994.05. Departments could request up to $40,000.

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The grants will also fund 21 capital improvement projects, including six new construction projects and five department additions. The money will help departments buy 13 apparatus trucks: three service or equipment trucks, four pumpers, and six brush trucks.
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The U.S. Coast Guard and partner agencies resumed their search at first light Monday for a missing jet ski operator off Oahu’s North Shore.

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Honolulu Ocean Safety responded to a 10:15 a.m. call Saturday and found keys in the ignition, along with a life jacket and personal items on the personal watercraft, but no sign of Empting.

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By 3 p.m., 44,600 people had voted in person, nearly double the previous single-day primary early-voting record of just over 23,000 set on the final day of early voting in June 2024, according to the State Election Commission. The agency had also received nearly 4,200 mailed absentee ballots.

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U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, South Carolina’s only Democrat in Congress, voted Tuesday in Orangeburg County. His 6th District was central to the redistricting debate. The proposed map would have moved his home in Santee into the 2nd District, potentially putting him in a general election contest with U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson. Clyburn said he would file in whatever district includes his Orangeburg County home.

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Taiwan’s coast guard said in a Sunday news release that the 5,500-ton Chinese patrol vessel CCG-3501 was spotted heading toward Dongsha on Saturday morning.

Taiwan’s 1,000-ton patrol vessel Taichung approached after the Chinese ship entered waters Taiwan claims from 12 to 24 nautical miles offshore, the release said.

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The Taiwanese vessel broadcast back: “Your actions prove that China’s peace is a scam. The international community will not support you. Please do not destroy peace; you should return and fight for democracy.”

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Iranian authorities partially restored internet access Tuesday after an almost three-month shutdown imposed during the war with Israel and the United States, according to internet monitor NetBlocks, a senior official, and people inside the country.

“Live metrics show a partial restoration to internet connectivity in Iran on day 88,” NetBlocks said on X. The group added that it was “unclear” whether this marked a permanent end to what it called the “longest nationwide internet shutdown in modern history.”

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