Los Angeles Unified teachers are swapping iPads for jigsaw puzzles and digital simulations for toy cars under the district's new screen time policy.

The policy, which the board approved unanimously in June, bans device use for students in early education through first grade. Caps for older students roll out in phases: second and third graders will be limited to 20 minutes of daily screen time starting in November, while fourth and fifth graders get 30 minutes daily. Middle and high school limits begin in January. The district projects enrollment of about 378,000 students this school year.

At Logan Academy of Global Ecology, first-grade teacher Martha Medina had planned to rotate students through three 15-minute stations, one of which used a learning app on an iPad. That station is now puzzles and letter-tracing art projects. Medina said the shift has made classroom management harder, especially without the instructional coaches and teachers' aides she had in previous years.

"Parents are worried that the kids are going to be on the iPad all day," Medina told EdSource in a report published by The LA Local. "That's just not the case in primary. There's no way we can have the kids on iPads all day. There's too much to teach."

At Johnnie Cochran Jr. Middle School, eighth-grade science teacher Armaghan Khan spent eight years building his curriculum around one-to-one devices. He uses a simulation program called Gizmos to let students visualize concepts like Newton's Third Law through a simulated car crash. He is now weighing whether toy cars can do the same job.

Khan said he has not yet had access to the professional development the district says it has offered.

The district told EdSource it has made training available to administrators and teachers, both in person and online. No specific dates or program names for upcoming sessions appeared in public records.

Board Member Nick Melvoin introduced the original resolution in April with co-sponsor Board Member Tanya Ortiz Franklin. The board passed it 6-0. Board President Scott Schmerelson recused himself. NBC News described LAUSD as the first major American school system to restrict student laptop and tablet use and encourage pen-and-paper assignments. The parent advocacy group Schools Beyond Screens, which worked with Melvoin's office on the resolution, said it now has chapters in more than 200 districts across 35 states, according to Larchmont Buzz.

Khan and other teachers have raised concerns about students with disabilities and English language learners who may rely more heavily on technology. The resolution calls on the district to consider a student's disability category when setting screen time guardrails, but no specific accommodation mechanism has been detailed publicly. Corinne Hyde, a professor of education at USC, said the policy could restrict teachers who believe technology would benefit their students.

The policy also blocks YouTube on district devices and bans elementary and middle school students from using devices during lunch and recess, according to the Los Angeles Times. The district is setting up tracking software called Lightspeed to monitor screen time down to the second.

Parent Julie Edwards, a member of Schools Beyond Screens, said her first grader's behavior has already changed. Last year, the child came home fixated on JiJi, a penguin character from a gamified learning platform. Now she talks about her friends and her school's ticket-based rewards system.

Caps for grades two through five take effect in November. Middle and high school limits begin in January.