SCHOFIELD, Wis. — After passing the state Senate on Tuesday, a bill to ban cell phone use in school districts across the state is headed to Governor Tony Evers.
The bill would require school boards across the state to implement new cell phone policies. If signed by Gov. Evers, the policy would ban non-educational wireless devices like phones in schools.
The bill was brought to the Assembly in February, where it was passed by a narrow margin of 53 to 45.
The state Senate followed suit on Tuesday with broader support.
“This is essential. Our kids are missing out because they are distracted by these phones,” said Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara with Appleton. “Wisconsin is asking for this. [The] Marquette Poll came out. It was 89% of Wisconsinites are asking that this be done.”
Cabral-Guevara was one of 29 senators who voted to pass the bill.
“What I’m asking is that the school boards adopt a policy that not during instructional time, not during instructional time, these phones are not being utilized,” said Cabral-Guevara.
One of four senators in opposition said school board members can put forward their own policies to prevent phone usage in schools.
“Rather than preventing our kids from using phones in school, why aren’t we working on teaching them proper phone etiquette?” said Sen. Melissa Ratcliff with Cottage Grove.
The D.C. Everest Area School District already has a policy requiring students to put devices away during learning time. That policy is built on the motto, “out of sight, out of mind.”
During class time, the phone needs to be put away so students can focus on learning and working together.
“By and large, the policy that we have in place right now, you know, the expectations we’ve laid out of not having them out, having them in your locker, not having your device on during the school day during instructional time has really been positively received by a lot of our students and by a lot of our families,” said Brady Mesenberg, director of technology for the district.
He says the “old school way” of talking to each other is strengthening interpersonal skills. Those skills are something they want students to take with them as they grow.
“The ability to limit distractions, the ability to allow a little more focus on the instructional side during class is a huge positive, and we’ve certainly seen a lot of net gains,” Mesenberg said.
If the governor signs the bill, the district will need to adjust its policy to match the bill. Mesenberg says that bill wouldn’t make too much of an impact on students since the district’s current policy is similar to what the bill entails.
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