BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – A bill was filed in the Texas Legislature that could power down cell phone use in schools.
House Bill 1481 was filed by Republican Representative Caroline Fairly of Amarillo, the only Gen Z member of the state legislature.
The bill would ban personal electronic devices on campus that aren’t used for instructional purposes, such as cell phones, laptops and tablets.
There are exceptions for educational uses and medical needs in the State Education Code.
Although the bill does give school districts some flexibility in crafting a policy that adheres to the law, schools would be required to offer a ‘secure, out-of-sight area’ to store student devices.
The current language of House Bill 1481 does not include funding for districts to purchase any needed storage supplies.
As a result, the Legislative Budget Board found school districts “will encumber costs related to the storage containers for student devices.”
Local school leaders have called past legislative actions like this an ‘unfunded mandate.’
“This is an added challenge to us to have, but not have funding to implement these mandates that we currently have to face,” Hearne ISD Superintendent Adrian Johnson said, referencing school safety mandates issued by the legislature during the 88th session.
Brazos Valley Representatives Trey Wharton and Stan Gerdes signed on as coauthors of the bipartisan bill.
Meanwhile, Brazos County Representative Paul Dyson said he’s on the fence about casting a ‘yes’ vote.
“I don’t know if I’m quite there yet on a state mandate, but I sure would love for some type of legislation to come out that is encouraging or at least setting a floor of what we’d like to see the public schools do,“ he said.
Rep. Dyson expressed a similar concern regarding the unfunded mandate potential of the bill’s current language, something he’s stood firmly against.
He is, however, supportive of the idea of banning cell phones in schools.
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