A split state Senate voted 28-19 Tuesday to advance a bill establishing a “bell to bell” student cell phone ban despite skepticism at its enforcement capabilities and safety concerns.
The author of Senate Bill 78, Sen. Jeff Raatz, R-Richmond, said it would require some tweaks as the bill advances to the House for consideration.
School districts would have two enforcement options — “safe storage” at school, leaving phones “inaccessible throughout the school day,” or a “no device” policy, banning students from bringing phones to school.
The safe storage provision drew questioning from senators after Raatz designated a locker as a safe storage option.
Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, said parents and students communicate differently today than in the past. She called the bill “premature.”
She asked how a school could discipline a student who talked to a parent while their phone was stored in their locker during the day.
“If a school says it’s fine, then why have the policy? Students will know it’s not a policy that’s enforced…. “There’s no teeth to it.”
Eleven Republicans, including Sen. Dan Dernulc, R-Highland, joined eight Democrats in opposing the bill.
Raatz said the Intent of the measure was to let schools decide how to implement the “no device” policy during the school day. He said schools would establish the punishment if the policy was violated.
Yet, senators pointed out some elementary schools don’t have lockers — they have cubbies — so storage could be a problem.
Raatz said that would be one of the issues taken up by the House.
Like many speakers, Sen. Fady Qaddoura, D-Indianapolis, said he agreed the phones represented a distraction during the school day.
Yet, Qaddoura said phones should be available for students to use for educational purposes. He offered that amendment, and it passed by a voice vote last week, drawing a lengthy discussion among Republicans.
Senators later removed the amendment.
Qaddoura said storage could also be costly for schools with higher enrollments.
“I have one high school with 3,800 students… I was hoping on second reading we would fix the implementation issue he called “an unfunded mandate.”
Sen. Jean Leising, R-Oldenburg, said she represents 15 small rural districts and several enforced a “no cell phone” policy during instructional time.
Leising, who voted against the bill, said she talked with students who told her they relied on their phones to alert their parents to changes in their extracurricular schedules and they liked having them for safety reasons.
Lawmakers passed a law last year banning students from using phones during school instruction, but it allows them during passing periods and lunch breaks.
Instead of a new law, Leising said they should address ways to fix the law in place.
Raatz said data shows academic outcomes improve when devices aren’t allowed during the day.
The bill will be sponsored by Rep. Jake Teshka, R-North Liberty, as it moves to the House.
Meanwhile, the House Education committee approved a lengthy education deregulation bill on Wednesday by a 10-1 vote.
Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, was the lone dissenter to House Bill 1004. He offered several amendments that were defeated.
Sen. Robert Behning, the bill’s author and chairman of the education committee, said the bill’s intent was to reduce burdensome rules on educators and shift other regulations into more appropriate jurisdictions.
One amendment solved the bill’s biggest criticism — the removal of a mandate requiring defibrillators and cardiac emergency plans in schools, a law just passed last year.
The amendment struck the language.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter at the Post-Tribune.
