Oklahoma lawmakers debate bills to ban cellphones in schools

Oklahoma legislators are considering two bills that could lead to a statewide ban on cellphones in classrooms, with discussions ongoing about the best approach to implement the ban.Inside the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday, conversations about Oklahoma students and their cell phones resumed.”How many kids have been bullied? How many inappropriate pictures have gotten about, and students have been hurt? Academic scores haven’t been what they should be because of that,” said state Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore.Seifried’s “Bell to Bell No Cell” Senate bill would require a ban in every district for one school year. However, on Tuesday, she presented the House bill by state Rep. Chad Caldwell of Enid, which would require schools to participate but also gives them an opt-out option.>> Video Below: Oklahoma school districts react as classroom cellphone bill moves forward”The local school boards can opt out of this, or they can opt out and change a different policy. This, if your concern is how our districts are going to handle it, I think might offer a little bit more flexibility on implementation initially,” Seifried said.After further discussions, Seifried expressed her opposition to the opt-out option.”Maybe some districts who aren’t already partaking would just opt out from the first year and wouldn’t try the hard thing,” she said. “I felt like peeling–rip the Band-Aid off. Do one year full bell-to-bell and give schools any autonomy, because I don’t give restrictions after that. I think, this is a good step, too.” >> Video Below: Oklahoma school cellphone ban bills take next step to becoming lawWhichever bill becomes law, it would go into effect on July 1. Some lawmakers expressed concerns that this might not provide enough time for school districts to implement the changes.The House bill heard on Tuesday now moves on to the full Senate, and Seifried’s Senate bill on this issue has a committee hearing scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.Top Headlines VIDEO: Owner reunites with dog 5 years after he goes missing amid hurricane Crash involving 3 vehicles causes long traffic backup on I-44 in southwest Oklahoma City Get the Facts: Major stock markets plummeted last week. Here’s how they compare historically Supreme Court blocks order to reinstate thousands of fired federal employees Police investigate hit-and-run in west Oklahoma City