A proposal to prevent students from using cellphones and other wireless devices during the school day, not just during instructional time, is headed to the full House.
The Education & Employment Committee on Wednesday unanimously approved the proposal (HB 949), which also would require school districts to designate areas where students may use devices.
Bill sponsor Demi Busatta, R-Coral Gables, said the proposal doesn’t define wireless devices to account for medical devices and to capture the “new gadget or gizmo that comes out.”
The proposal comes two years after lawmakers barred students from using cellphones and other wireless devices during instructional time.
Committee Chairwoman Jennifer Canady, R-Lakeland, said the goal of Busatta’s bill is to create an environment where students can thrive.
A Senate proposal (SB 1296), which cleared the Education Pre-K-12 Committee on Monday, would require the education commissioner to craft a statewide policy based on findings from six school districts that would ban the use of cellphones and other devices during the school day throughout the 2025-2026 academic year.
In Broward County Public Schools, academic performance is up and school fights are down, the school district says, after they banned cellphones.
School board member Dr. Allen Zeman says school fights are down 17% from this same point last year, and he says anecdotal evidence from school administrators shows the reason for the decline is the restrictive cellphone policy.
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