The Brief

Four months after the Los Angeles Unified School District banned cellphones in its schools, the general consensus among students, teachers and administrators is that there are fewer visible phones during the school day and more interaction between students.

Venice High School math teacher Jessica Quindel said she noticed an immediate change in her students on the day the ban started in February.

“It was almost like you had given them a sugar high, they were bouncing off the walls,” Quindel said.

She offered stress balls and other fidget toys to occupy students' hands and used grant funding to purchase “flexible seating.” Students can choose to sit on a bouncy medicine ball on wheels, a couch, or an intentionally wobbly stool instead of a traditional desk chair.

“It's a challenge, but it's a good one because it means that kids are not looking at their phones, and instead they're trying to learn,” Quindel said.

At the same time, students and educators say students aren’t necessarily following the rules as they were originally laid out.

“ People still bring their phones to school, they just don't get caught,” said Sophia, a Venice High sophomore. “The more rules you enforce, the sneakier people get. The more you imply that you don't trust students, the more they give you a reason not to trust them.”

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On February 18th, 2025, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest public school district in the country, implemented an all-day cell phone ban for its students. Now that it’s the end of the school year, we head to Venice High School to see how the ban actually went.

Did the cellphone ban in high schools work?

On February 18th, 2025, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest public school district in the country, implemented an all-day cell phone ban for its students. Now that it’s the end of the school year, we head to Venice High School to see how the ban actually went.

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The backstory of LAUSD’s cellphone ban 

The LAUSD Board voted in June 2024 to expand the district’s existing phone ban to include lunch and passing periods (“bell to bell”). The policy also applies to smartwatches and earbuds.

Board members cited rising concerns about the effect of phones and social media on youth mental health, bullying and distraction from classroom instruction.

Two months later, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that requires districts state-wide to adopt similar policies by July 2026. California is one of at least 24 states, as well as D.C., that require school districts to ban or restrict the use of phones in schools.

LAUSD offered schools different ways to implement the ban and set aside $7 million for lockers, pouches and other devices to separate students from their phones. A district spokesperson said in a statement that about half of schools chose to rely instead on the “honor system” and require students to keep their phones turned off and in their backpacks.

It’s unclear how much of the money was spent. LAist requested invoices related to the policy’s implementation in April through California’s public records law, but has yet to receive them.

‘It’s a challenge, but it’s a good one’

Venice High School’s 2,300 students were supposed to stow phones in a portable lockers stored in their sixth-period classes.

Sophia was one of a few students in her class who relinquished their phones initially, but she said she stopped after about two weeks.

“ I don't use it throughout the day — I really don't,” Sophia said. “But I just, I feel safer knowing that my property is like, in my bag.”

She said the phone ban has been more of an inconvenience than anything. She’s in multiple extracurriculars, including the school newspaper.

“ I want to give respect to my teacher, and I'm there to learn. I understand that,” Sophia said. “But during my free time, during lunch and nutrition, when I have the perfect opportunity to send out communications to get stuff that I need to be done, done, there is no reason for me to still have my phone locked in a box.”

Sophia’s average screen time is the same as it was before the ban, about four hours a day.

But other students reported the ban did change their behavior at school.

Venice junior Chris said that although he didn’t put his phone in the locker, he also wasn’t using it during the school day, for example to play video games during lunch.

 ”I was afraid to get it taken away by my teachers because there was still punishments that you would get if you got caught with it too many times,” Chris said.

Instead, he spent more time talking with his friends and noticed his peers doing the same.

But he has noticed another change: In February, he said his screentime averaged five hours a day. By the end of the school year his phone use had crept up to eight hours a day.

Most of that time is spent on TikTok, but Chris also spends hours in the photos app.

“ I just like to reminisce on memories I've taken with my phone,” he said. Among the nearly 10,000 pictures he’s taken since 2020 are images of his recent birthday party at his grandmother’s home and trips to Brazil to visit family.

Math teacher Quindel said the support of a district-wide policy has helped her feel less like the “phone police” in her individual classroom, but lunch, nutrition and passing periods remain a challenge, especially given the other responsibilities teachers have.

A Walter Reed Middle School student holds the pouch where she is required to store her phone during the school day as part of LAUSD's cell phone policy.

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“ We have thousands of kids here, and there's not that many adults to be able to intervene,” Quindel said.

Quindel said discussions are underway at Venice as to whether the school will continue trying to require students to store phones at the beginning of the day, or switch to a different strategy.

Students have reportedly found ways to circumvent the phone policy at other schools, for example by storing a dummy phone in the pouch or breaking the locks.

It’s not yet clear on a classroom or district-wide level whether the policy is helping students learn more.

“ I teach data science, so I have a very hard time saying that I have any kind of controlled experiment to say that there's a link between their grades and the cellphone policy,” Quindel said.

But she did mention a few individual cases where students told her that the phone ban helped them focus in class.

LAist requested an interview with anyone at LAUSD who might be able to speak to how the policy has been implemented district-wide and received a statement from a spokesperson.

“While the district has not completed a formal assessment since initializing our implementation of a variety of phone-free policies this semester, our school sites are reporting improved socialization and engagement during the school days and minimal to no disruption,” the spokesperson wrote.

Nick Melvoin, an LAUSD board member and major supporter of the ban, said faculty interested in studying how LAUSD schools are implementing the phone ban have contacted his office.

Researchers, including several at Stanford, have launched a national survey to try to better understand how phone bans are being implemented throughout the country and expect to share initial findings before the start of next school year.

“We want the world to see that this is a really important policy,” Melvoin said. “I think we will all, as educators and educational leaders, look back in a few years and be like, how did we ever let cellphones in schools?”

Listen 46:11

Apple

Spotify

On February 18th, 2025, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest public school district in the country, implemented an all-day cell phone ban for its students. Now that it’s the end of the school year, we head to Venice High School to see how the ban actually went.

Did the cellphone ban in high schools work?

On February 18th, 2025, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest public school district in the country, implemented an all-day cell phone ban for its students. Now that it’s the end of the school year, we head to Venice High School to see how the ban actually went.

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• Spotify

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is using spyware tools that can intercept encrypted messages as part of the agency's efforts to disrupt fentanyl traffickers, according to a letter sent last week by the agency's acting director, Todd Lyons.

Lyons' letter, which was reviewed by NPR, said ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is using various tools as part of its mission to disrupt and dismantle foreign terrorist organizations "particularly those involved in the trafficking of fentanyl."

Lyons wrote "in response to the unprecedented lethality of fentanyl and the exploitation of digital platforms by transnational criminal organizations" he approved HSI's "use of cutting-edge technological tools that address the specific challenges posed by the Foreign Terrorist Organizations' thriving exploitation of encrypted communication platforms."

His letter, dated April 1, was a belated response to an October inquiry from three Democratic members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform expressing concern about the agency's potential use of the spyware Graphite, which was created by an Israeli company, Paragon Solutions.

The letter is the first time ICE has indicated it is using Graphite. The agency initially signed a $2 million contract with Paragon Solutions for an unspecified software product at the end of the Biden administration. But the contract was swiftly paused until it was revived by the Trump administration last fall.

Graphite uses what is known as "zero click" technology so that it can gain access to encrypted messages on a targeted device even if the user never clicks on a link.

The encrypted messaging app WhatsApp disclosed last year that it discovered some 90 journalists and members of civil society in various countries were targeted with Graphite. Researchers at The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy later identified specific journalists and humanitarian aid providers in Italy whose devices were infected with Graphite through WhatsApp messages. Paragon ended its contract with Italian government agencies in 2025.

Lyons' confirmation that the agency is using spyware comes as ICE has ramped up its use of surveillance technologies to find people in the U.S. without authorization as part of the Trump administration's mass deportation campaign. Those tools have also been used extensively on American citizens who have protested ICE's activities. The revelation also comes shortly before Congress is set to debate whether to reauthorize a surveillance law, and whether to close a legal loophole that allows the federal government to buy data about millions of Americans in bulk from commercial data brokers.

Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., one of the authors of the October letter asking for answers about ICE's use of spyware, told NPR in a statement, "The response I received from ICE makes one thing clear. They are moving forward with invasive spyware technology inside the United States."

Lee expressed disappointment that Lyons did not provide substantive answers to her questions, including who could be targeted with the technology and the legal basis for using it within the United States.

"The people most at risk, including immigrants, Black and brown communities, journalists, organizers, and anyone speaking out against government abuse, deserve more than secrecy and deflection from an agency with a long record of overreach and abuse," Lee's statement said.

Lyons' letter said any use of the tool "will comply with constitutional requirements" and will be coordinated with the ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor.

The Paragon Solutions' contract was initially put on hold in 2024 to review its compliance with an executive order then-President Joe Biden signed in 2023 that bars the use of commercial spyware that poses a national security risk to the United States or poses a risk to be misused by foreign governments.

Lyons wrote in his letter that in accordance with the 2023 executive order, he had "certified that HSI's operational use of the specific tool does not pose significant security or counterintelligence risks, or significant risks of improper use by a foreign government or foreign person."

Paragon Solutions was purchased by an American private investment firm AE Industrial Partners in late 2024, which merged with the cybersecurity company REDLattice. Neither AE Partners or REDLattice returned NPR's request for comment.

Lyons' response alarmed civil liberties advocates who worry about the potential for ICE to abuse the tool and use it against targets beyond drug traffickers and terrorists.

"The biggest concern now is that Lyons' response doesn't rule out ICE using an administrative subpoena to deploy this malware against people living in the United States as part of their ideological battle against constitutionally protected protest," said Cooper Quintin, senior staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which advocates for digital privacy.

"An extremely invasive surveillance capability such as this should require the strongest judicial oversight and confirmation that such intrusion is necessary and [a] proportionate response to the crime being investigated," Quintin said.

Maria Villegas Bravo, a lawyer with the nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center, said the U.S. does not have sufficient regulations in place "to stop the U.S. government from abusing Constitutional and human rights in the process of using this technology."

In response to an NPR inquiry to the Department of Homeland Security about its use of Graphite and the concerns raised, a DHS official who did not identify themselves wrote, "DHS is a law enforcement agency. ICE is no different. Employing various forms of technology in support of investigations and law enforcement activities aids in the arrest of criminal gang members, child sex offenders, murderers, drug dealers, identity thieves and more, all while respecting civil liberties and privacy interests."

Villegas Bravo said that by paying for Graphite, the U.S. is helping to bolster the market for technologies that are being exploited by foreign governments to undermine the privacy of messaging applications and carry out invasive surveillance of phones.

"This is a grave national security risk because it weakens American critical infrastructure, including our telecommunications networks," Villegas Bravo said.
Copyright 2026 NPR

New research is backing up what many residents in the Vernon area have already feared: the Exide cleanup is missing a lot of lead.

UC Irvine researchers found excessive lead in the area 11 years after the battery plant closed, as well as evidence that the remediation area may need to be expanded.

Lead is a toxic metal that can cause short- and long-term health effects, including neurological and reproductive changes. Exposure is especially dangerous for children and pregnant people.

A brief history of the Exide cleanup

Exide Technologies operated the 15-acre smelting facility in Vernon between 1922 and 2015. It processed 11 million auto batteries a year, releasing an estimated 3,500 tons of lead into the surrounding communities of Maywood, East Los Angeles, Commerce, Bell and Huntington Park.

After the federal government shuttered the plant over hazardous waste violations, California declared it an environmental disaster. It has since spent more than $750 million so far cleaning up the site and residential homes. The remediation zone was set at a 1.7-mile radius around the facility.

As of March 27, over 6,000 properties have been cleaned, according to the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control, which oversees the effort.

Residents have complained for years about issues with the process and its thoroughness. Even though homes were deemed clean, investigations have found excessive lead on the grounds. Contractors have also reportedly violated state standards for soil removal and environmental regulations with toxic dust spread.

Key findings

Jill Johnston, an associate professor of environmental and occupational health at UC Irvine and lead author, said this is the  first peer-reviewed study looking at the problem and how it extends beyond the remediation zone.

Between October 2021 and September 2024, the researchers worked with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice to collect more than 1,000 soil samples from 373 residential properties.

This figure shows the approximate locations of residential soil samples collected for the study.

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More than two thirds of samples from remediated homes still had over 80 ppm of lead, the state’s threshold for use, with 19% of those samples reaching over 200 ppm.

The study also looked at neighborhoods outside the state’s defined cleanup area. Nearly 90% of those sampled homes were beyond acceptable levels. Seven in 10 homes had at least one sample above 200 ppm, according to the findings.

The study suggests two things for remediated homes — either contaminated soil wasn’t fully removed, and/or it was recontaminated by historically present lead, like that in paint or freeway exhaust particles.

“ We don’t think that if you adequately remove the soil from the home, that we should be seeing this much recontamination just from lead paint that’s on the exterior of the house,” Johnston said.

Another author on the study, East Yard’s mark! Lopez, an  Eastside community organizer, said the research helps affected residents, many of whom are predominantly Latino, fight against  environmental racism.

“ We’re bringing the personal narrative, the collective experience, peer review data to the table," he said. "It’s an extra layer of credibility to be able to really push the agency to do right, to push the state to do right by our communities.”

LAist has reached out to the California Department of Toxic Substances Control for comment, but did not hear back in time for publication. We’ll update this story once it’s received.

The L.A. County Department of Public Health, which participates on the Exide Technical Advisory Committee (a public forum for residents and agencies to communicate about the cleanup), said in a statement the study matters from a public health perspective.

“The findings underscore the importance of continued evaluation of cleanup effectiveness, consideration of post-remediation testing and ongoing efforts to reduce exposure,” the department added.

Calling for change

The study makes multiple policy change suggestions — some of which have already been implemented, such as third-party monitoring of cleanup crews.

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice is calling for expanded remediation beyond the 1.7-mile boundary. They also want a commitment to resampling every cleaned up home, and if needed, correcting lead problems. He wants those results to be shared with communities in a timely manner.

As of 2025, Johnston said all new homes are getting cleaned and are getting retested. For homes cleaned prior to that, a sample of homes are being rechecked.

In mid-March, the cast and crew behind a new play about the life of labor leader Dolores Huerta and the rise of the farmworker movement were preparing for their debut.

Then, on March 18 — the last day of the production’s tech rehearsal — the New York Times published an investigation into United Farm Workers co-founder Cesar Chavez detailing allegations that he sexually abused and raped girls and women. Huerta wrote in a statement that Chavez had coerced her into sex on one occasion and forced her to have sex on another. She said she got pregnant each time and hid the pregnancies.

“Hearing the news and reading it, I was in absolute tears,” said director Sara Guerrero. “I didn't know what to expect.”

She wondered if the play, ¡Sí Se Puede!, would be pulled before it had a chance to begin.

“What would be the best way to continue to elevate this woman who endured a lot?” Guerrero said.

The answer Guerrero and the rest of the cast and crew landed on reflects a struggle for many since the allegations against Chavez were published. How do you square the gains of a movement that humanized and improved the lives of farmworkers — led by a man who inspired generations of activists — with the harm done by that same leader?

The origin of '¡Sí Se Puede!'

Today, Center Theatre Group is most known for the shows hosted at its flagship downtown L.A. theaters and in Culver City, but decades ago, the organization toured.

“We have to exist outside of the institutions, otherwise we’re not part of the global citizenship,” said Jesus Reyes, director of learning and community partnerships. “ There's so many young people and older people who have lost touch with art … So it's also our responsibility to put it out there.”

Director Sara Guerrero (left) and Playwright Eliana Pipes stand in front of the set for "¡Sí Se Puede!." Both have longstanding ties to L.A.'s theatre community.

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Center Theatre Group commissioned an all-ages play about Huerta from writer Eliana Pipes in March 2025 to kickstart a pilot program that would bring shows to lesser-known regional venues.

Pipes devoured documentaries, books and conducted her own interviews with people connected to the farmworker movement.

“There's this perception that farm work was only done by men,” Pipes said. “But… there were women on the fields, there were women on the picket lines, and there were women in leadership in the United Farm Workers movement.”

A necessary pivot

On the day the New York Times' investigation published, Guerrero got together with Pipes and others from Center Theatre Group to discuss how to move forward.

“ What really stood out to us was that we had always intended to elevate the story and call to action of Dolores Huerta,” Guerrero said.

The United Farm Workers' grape boycotts depicted in the play are credited with helping the union win contracts with growers and eliminate the use of certain pesticides.

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The decision: Chavez would remain a minor character — albeit with fewer lines. Pipes re-typed the play and drove to the final rehearsal at East Los Angeles College. She pulled over once to cry.

The cast performed a dress rehearsal for an audience of ELAC students.

“There were some tears, there was a lot of laughter and celebration, and I think it felt really healing for everybody to get to celebrate her, especially in this moment,” Pipes said.

El Teatro Campesino

¡Sí Se Puede! also highlights farmworker leaders like Larry Itliong, who’d organized Filipino farmworkers for years before Huerta and Chavez started working with Mexican laborers. Filipino farmworkers, historically less visible, started the 1965 Delano Grape Strike and Itliong later became a leader in United Farm Workers under Chavez.

The language of the play — English, Spanish and Tagalog — and the production design reflect the culture of the farmworker movement, incorporating a style of skits performed for farmworkers from the backs of flatbed trucks.

“El Teatro Campesino was not just entertainment, but it was also an organizing tool,” Pipes said. “The actors that they put on were meant to educate farm workers on the fields about their rights and incentivize them to join the strike.”

This El Teatro Campesino workbook belonged to Pipes’ grandmother who met Huerta through United Farm Workers meetings hosted at Santa Monica’s Unitarian Universalist Community Church.

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The style of El Teatro Campesino is big and theatrical. The politician character's devil mask is also a nod to the archetypes often found in the style's skits.

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Pipes was also tasked with translating the complexities of the farmworker movement into a narrative appropriate for all ages.

Sometimes that meant taking a few creative liberties with the character’s personal traits, like swapping Itliong’s trademark cigar for a lollipop.

More difficult was acknowledging the sometimes violent backlash the farmworkers faced. For example, a police attack on United Farm Worker demonstrators in San Francisco in 1988 left Huerta, then 58, with a ruptured spleen and fractured ribs.

“I think sometimes TYA — theater for young audiences — and for families has a reputation for being sort of toothless or apolitical,” Pipes said. “This piece does have something to say and it says it loud and proud. And even though it's in an age appropriate way, we never shy away from acknowledging the injustices that women face in the movement.”

“¡Sí Se Puede!" opens by asking the audience to think about the origin of their food before diving into the history of farm work in California. Juan De La Cruz plays several roles in the show, including a grape harvester.

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The "capitalist pig" is another archetype of El Teatro Campesino. Sol Joun plays the grower and several other roles in "¡Sí Se Puede!"

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In one scene, a TV broadcaster interviews Huerta and Chavez  at the terminus of the 1966 farmworker march from Delano to Sacramento.

“ I'm here at the State Capitol with Cesar Chavez and his secretary, Dolores Huerta — could you grab me a cup of coffee sweetheart?” the broadcaster asks.

When Huerta asserts herself as a co-founder of the union, the broadcaster calls her Chavez’s “sidekick.”

“It's so hard not to be heard,” Huerta’s character reflects after the interview ends. “Even in my own movement, some of the campesinos can't stand listening to women  and I try to pick my battles, but God, sometimes it feels like I'm battling a fight on two fronts.”

How audiences are reacting to the show

Center Theatre Group retains the right to produce the play in the greater Los Angeles area, but the play is available for anyone to produce elsewhere.

“ I would love to see it across the country, and particularly in places that have a long history with the farm workers movement, like Arizona, Texas,” Pipes said. “But I would love this play in every city, in every state.”

At the end of the show, the actors asked everyone in the audience to close their eyes and think about their personal answer to "What is the change you want to make in the world?"

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The show’s initial 10-show run included libraries, recreation centers, schools and Boyle Heights City Hall.

The Toxqui family drove from Pomona and sat front and center for the April 2 show.

Mom Noelle said her great-grandfather worked in the orange groves.

 “It's something that's important to me and my own family history,” she said. “[I have] the desire for my kids to understand the fights that have happened before them and that will continue to happen.”

Izel Toxqui (center), 8,  said she felt inspired after watching the show. Her 4-year-old sister Ameli said she liked how Huerta helped people get food when they were hungry. “Ese parte me gusta que cuando ella estaba luchando por sus derechos,” she added, saying she liked that Huerta fought for their rights.

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Ruffy Landayan came to support friends in the cast, but left with a deeper understanding of the farm worker movement he “barely” learned about as a San Bernardino high school student.

“[The play is] about history, but it also felt very current because it is really current,” Landayan said. “That's when I realized the power of theater.”

The show also affirmed the experiences of people familiar with the movement.

Raul Cardona has worked with El Teatro Campesino since the 2000s and is a community organizer in East L.A.

“ There's a place for everyone in the revolution,” Cardona said. “If you don't belong to an organization, find one that you stand with and become part of it. The work needs to be done and it's not gonna do itself.”