Statewide cellphone ban in Connecticut classrooms fails to make it to finish line

HARTFORD, Conn. — When the legislative session began, a statewide bell-to-bell ban on cellphones in Connecticut classrooms was among Gov. Ned Lamont’s top priorities but as the clock ran out on the session Wednesday, the bill hadn’t passed.

While HB 5035, spearheaded by Rep. Jennifer Leeper, a Fairfield Democrat and co-chair of the Education Committee, passed the House in a 117-31 vote, the legislation was not called in the Senate.

Leeper said that “a cellphone-free school is evidence-based best practice for children and was supported by parents and educators.

“While I wish this had the support to cross the finish line this year, I look forward to continuing to bring the stakeholders together to pass this policy next year,” she said.

Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff said in a statement that while he commended the hard work that went into crafting the legislation, senators “on both sides of the aisle have raised serious concerns about the bill’s impact on the ability of local school districts to set classroom policies that best suit the needs of their communities.

“A number of senators felt strongly that those decisions should remain with local boards of education,” Duff said. “Given the limited time left in the legislative session, we were not able to reach the consensus needed to bring the bill to the floor.”

But Duff said this is not the end of the conversation.

“Distractions in the classroom are a real problem and our students deserve an environment where they can learn and reach their full potential,” Duff said. “We expect to keep working to make that happen.”

House Speaker Matt Ritter said at a recent briefing that he appreciated the legislation was a big priority for Leeper but he also intellectually understood the Senate majority leader’s argument.

“She’s disappointed,” Ritter said of Leeper. “Obviously we care about her a great deal and want her bills to pass. But Bob’s argument — there’s a lot of people that agree with Bob. It’s a very tough call. Is it a mandate or should it be local control? It’s a tough go.”

In February 2024, Lamont said during his State of the State address that “severe anxiety and aberrant behavior can be traced back to social media.”

Cathryn Valuman, director of communications for Lamont, said Wednesday, with just hours left in the session, “We really hope that Senate leadership can get the Governor’s cell phone bill over the finish line today.

“There is strong evidence that this bill would support improved emotional well-being attention, engagement and performance for our students and we heard from any districts who wanted to see this done at the state level.”

In August 2024, the Connecticut State Board of Education unanimously passed guidance advising districts to remove or restrict cellphones from K-12 classrooms. But the policy does not require districts to enact a policy.

Several members of the Education Committee and the Connecticut Education Association were in favor of the ban, saying that a phone-free environment is needed and unlimited access to cellphones has created academic deficits.

But some lawmakers on the committee and the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education questioned the need for a ban, saying virtually every district in the state already has a policy or is considering one. They also said that it is important for districts to tailor policies to the needs of their community.

Patrice McCarthy, executive director of CABE, said that “CABE appreciates that decisions about the use of cellphones in schools will remain a matter of school district policy.”

CEA President Kate Dias said the cellphone policies in schools are not consistent.

Dias said that “I know that our boards of ed and our superintendents have said we don’t need this but I would argue our data tells us that roughly 30 high schools in the state have a meaningful cellphone policy. And we need another 120 to get on board before we are thinking we solved this problem.”

She said that CEA will continue to put some pressure on school districts to act.

Other districts are expanding the scope of conversation over technology in the classroom, Dias said, referring to the Los Angeles Board of Education, which voted to significantly curtail the amount of time children are behind screens.

“We spend a lot of money on technology and it’s a really good opportunity for us to think about, is that the proper way?” Dias said. “Are we helping kids by spending that money or are there other ways that we could be doing things that are beneficial to kids?”

The CSDE reported that 25 states have K-12 statewide bell-to-bell bans or are currently debating them in session.

Sixty-seven percent of districts in the state have a “bell-to-bell ban in at least one grade band,” according to the CSDE.

The CSDE also reported that 99% of districts have a districtwide cellphone policy.

Superintendents in four Connecticut districts that implemented cellphone bans over the past few years say they are seeing improvements in a number of areas.

Officials in Torrington, Waterbury, Manchester and New Haven have said they’re seeing fewer discipline referrals, increased student engagement, and some are reporting marked improvements in academic achievement. Students and education officials in those districts say their district bans have also improved students’ mental health, focus and morale, leading to positive outcomes all around.