Starting Sept. 1, public and charter schools across Texas will enforce a cellphone ban during school hours. Here’s how local districts are responding.
SAN ANTONIO — Texas schools will soon enforce a cellphone ban during school hours, impacting all public and charter schools starting September 1. Many districts are still working to adjust their current cell phone policies to what the state has mandated.
Up until now, individual districts could decide on the use of personal electronics in class. Now, House Bill 1481 says all public and open-enrollment charter schools will prohibit students from using them during the school day. That includes smartphones, tablets and smartwatches.
“The big difference is it was instructional time and now it is a school day with a few exceptions,” said Beth Jones, assistant superintendent of San Antonio ISD’s Office of Strategy.
Jones said they already have a policy in place where communication devices would be kept out of sight and in silent mode. That includes things like Air Pods.
“Even though you can’t type on them or call somebody on them, you can be connected to a device that is doing that,” she said.
We reached out to several other school districts about the cell phone policy.
IDEA Public Schools provided KENS 5 with the following statement:
“IDEA already has a similar cell phone policy outlined in our current student handbook, which allows students to possess personal cell phones for safety purposes but requires that devices remain turned off during the instructional day, including testing, unless used for approved instructional activities. Pending Board approval and a final implementation plan, we will continue to follow the guidelines set forth in our current handbook.”
Jennifer Cortez has a middle schooler at Northside ISD and grandchildren at Harlandale ISD.
“I am all for it. It is a huge distraction. It is often used to record and bully others or record fights as well. I understand it is very helpful to some to keep in touch with their child but that can easily be done by calling the office and leaving a message for them to call you back,” said Cortez.
In the case of an emergency, SAISD says students will still have access to their phones in the classroom.
“They may be stored in a central caddy or placed in a pouch or in a different situation like a backpack or cubby. So those will be in the classrooms should there be an emergency,” said Jones.
Several school districts told KENS 5 they’ll be discussing their district’s plan at board meetings before the September 1 deadline, including Northside ISD and Northeast ISD.
San Antonio ISD said it plans to include this in the policies they will take to their trustees for action during their August 18 board meeting as well.