A bipartisan majority of Kansas Senators is backing a bill that that would ban cell phones during instructional time in public and private elementary and secondary schools.
The bill, spearheaded by Senate Majority Leader Chase Blasi and Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, is backed by 28 Republicans and Democrats in the chamber.
The bill sponsors include two candidates for governor, Senate President Ty Masterson and Democratic state Sen. Ethan Corson of Fairway.
And while the bill is starting in the Senate, the speaker of the Kansas House also has expressed support for legislation restricting cell phone use in schools.
Meanwhile, the state school boards association praised the effort but had reservations about the bill while the KNEA was withholding judgment.
“Phone-free schools give students space to think, build authentic human relationships, and
protect student mental health from constant digital pressure,” Blasi said in a statement.
“The longer phones stay in classrooms, the harder it becomes to undo the damage,” said Blasi, who sat on a state education task force in 2024 that recommended school districts ban cellphones during the school day.
The advisory report adopted by the State Board of Education was an outgrowth of a task force that was created to develop guidance for addressing the nonacademic use of phones in public school classrooms.
The task force recommended school districts implement a policy for students to store personal electronic devices in a secure location inaccessible to them during the school day.
The task force also recommended school districts “develop robust safety and emergency procedures” that don’t depend on students contacting authorities or family with personal electronic devices or school-issued devices.
The report adopted by the State Board of Education was intended only to provide guidance in helping school districts adopt their own policy. It was not a mandate.
The task force report included findings of a 2024 study showing that 72% of high school teachers, 33% of middle school teachers and 6% of elementary school teachers believe that students distracted by cellphones in class is a major problem.
Students also indicated the distractions that digital devices can cause, with about 30% of them saying they get distracted by using digital devices and 21% saying they are distracted by other students’ digital devices during their math lessons.
The board adopted the report about a week after the U.S. Department of Education called on every state, district and school to adopt policies that guide the use of student personal devices in schools.
The federal agency developed a new resource, which offered a model process that school officials can use to design policies for use of cell phones and other personal devices in schools alongside educators, students, parents, and caregivers.
“Studies show that classrooms without phones have more engaged students leading to face-to-face conversations, stronger peer relationships, safer school environments and
better academic outcomes,” Sykes said in a statement.
“Kansas has world-class teachers and world-class schools and we need to keep it that way and this legislation helps us do that,” she said.
The bill would require each school board and the governing authority of an accredited private elementary or secondary school to adopt policies overseeing the use of personal electronic communication devices during instructional time.
Those policies shall include:
- Prohibiting students from using or accessing personal electronic communication devices during instructional time, which is defined from the start of the school day until dismissal at the end of the school day on the school premises. It includes any classroom, structured or unstructured learning setting, recess, lunch or passing period.
- Requiring personal electronic communication devices be turned off and securely stored away from the student in an inaccessible location during instructional time.
- Establish procedures and disciplinary actions for violations of those policies.
- Authorize exceptions for students to use personal electronic communication devices under certain limited circumstances. An example would include a device approved by a licensed physician as a medical necessity to support a student’s health or wellbeing.
The bill requires each school board and governing authority of an accredited private elementary or secondary school to certify to the state Board of Education by Sept. 1 that they have adopted cell phone policies as detailed in the legislation.
The Kansas State Board of Education did not have a position on the bill.
Health care think tank KFF reported that cellphone bans began years ago out of fear about students using cellphones or pagers to make drug deals.
In 2009, about 91% of public schools prohibited cellphone use, which fell to 66% in 2015 before rising again to 76% in 2021.
A survey by the state Board of Education last summer revealed that 34.1% of the state’s school districts have had a personal electronic device policy in place for more than five years. The second longest rate was 20.8% for one year.
Nearly 47% of districts said their policies varied by grade level, while 26.3% indicated each school has its own policy.
A total of 77.8% said their high school students may use personal devices during passing periods or lunch, and 66.5% said their district had a bell-to-bell ban in elementary schools where students aren’t permitted to use personal devices at any time during the school day.
Just 31.4% of high schools had a bell-to-bell ban on cell phones while 60.7% of middle schools had a ban in place, the survey showed.
House Speaker Dan Hawkins told the Sunflower State Journal that he supported limits on cell phones.
“Quite frankly it’s ridiculous to expect kids to thrive in the classroom after handing them the world’s biggest distraction,” Hawkins said last fall.
“Enough states have banned cell phones in the classroom to give us data that proves what should have been obvious. Both test scores and attendance go up when you remove cell phones from the classroom.
“In the coming legislative session Republicans will lead the charge on this effort but I hope it’s something everyone can get behind in the best interests of Kansas kids.”
The Kansas Association of School Boards said in a statement that it has reservations about the bill as it’s now drafted.
“KASB applauds lawmakers for their commitment to student achievement and wellbeing, a commitment that’s shared by more than 2,000 locally elected school board members across Kansas,” the organization said in a statement
“KASB’s member-adopted policy opposes legislative mandates that interfere with local control over school district operations,” the group said.
“Many Kansas school boards have worked with local parents to craft and implement student cell phone policies that fit local needs.
“Districts also have policies on staff use of social media. As a result, we oppose the bill as currently written but look forward to working with the legislature on these important issues,” the group said.
The Kansas National Education Association said it was still reviewing the bill so it can better understand how it might affect teaching and learning.
“KNEA must have a seat at the table as this legislation moves forward,” KNEA President Sherri Schwanz said in a statement.
“We look forward to working with lawmakers to ensure that any final bill supports safe, productive learning environments for students and respects the professional judgment of Kansas educators,” Schwanz said.
