Instead of providing guidance to Kansas school districts on implementation of the new cell phone ban signed into law nearly three months ago by Governor Laura Kelly, the Kansas State Board of Education(KSBOE) resolved that more discussion is needed before such direction would be forthcoming, falling further behind in its ability to influence this fast-moving issue.
The legislation, Senate Substitute for House Bill 2299, the so-called “Bell-to-Bell Cell Phone Ban, was passed by the Kansas Legislature on March 13th, and Governor Laura Kelly signed it into law on March 19th. Yet, at its June meeting, the KSBOE didn’t appear ready to issue advisories to districts that are required to send their implementation plans to the board by September 1st; rather, it decided to wait for the start of the 2027-2028 school year before enacting a plan.
The bill requires Kansas public schools and accredited private schools to prohibit the use of personal electronic devices during the school day on school premises. These devices include, but are not limited to, cell phones, tablets, computers, watches, wireless headphones or earbuds, text messaging devices, and personal digital assistants. Students’ personal devices must be turned off and securely stored during the school day.
Cell phone legislation
The new law stipulates:
On or before September 1, 2026, each board of education of a school district and governing authority of an accredited nonpublic elementary or secondary school shall submit to the state board of education, on a form and in the manner prescribed by the state board, a certification that the board of education of the school district or governing authority of the accredited nonpublic elementary or secondary school has adopted the policies and procedures pursuant to sections 2 and 3, and amendments thereto.
In her initial presentation to the board, member Melanie Haas alluded to her group’s recent inertia:
“The legislature acted on cell phones, to be frank, because we didn’t. We had an opportunity to issue guidance as a board, and we took a step back and said, ‘We will accept the task force, the Blue Ribbon Task Force, on screen time.’ We said: ‘We’ll accept their report, but we did not issue it as guidance to districts. And so, we need to be cognizant of that as well.
“We can’t let it happen again, where we head into January, and we see a bill come along that says we’re gonna all-out ban one-to-one devices. And we need to be mindful of what that means.”
“So we might be thinking, too, about what the timeline for this looks like. Obviously, we’re not going to get something in place by August that’s right around the corner. So we’re looking at something that would potentially go into effect the following August 2027 for that school year. In the meantime, we have an opportunity to really listen to what our districts need to say to us.”
But aside from hearing testimonies on the effects of digital learning in its one-day hearing on the cell phone ban, the KSBOE member discussions at day’s end centered on the need for more input from affected parties, and planning for more discussion on the issue in August, a month before districts are to begin submitting their plans for implementation.
New Education Commissioner Dr. Jake Steel appeared to agree with the consensus, offering a mechanism for the continued information-gathering sought by the board:
“One of the things that I heard us talk about… is we wanted to hear from, and we mentioned teachers, and we mentioned parents. And again, I’m not saying we’re doing it yet, but I would wonder if we could have perhaps the Department of Education show us what it would look like to do a survey, or if there’s a different mechanism by which the board wants to hear from them. One of the things I’ve heard a lot from the board is we do want to hear from these groups. One option was, if we looked at doing a survey in the fall, what would that be?”
Five members of the 10-member board have declined to run for re-election this year. Chair Cathy Hopkins, Vice-Chair Danny Zeck, Jim Porter, Michelle Dombrowsky, and Dennis Hershberger have opted out of another term.
