Florida expands cell-phone ban in elementary and middle schools, and select high schools

By Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida

Florida lawmakers late Friday approved barring students in elementary and middle schools from using cell phones during the school day — and testing the idea in high schools. Current law prevents students from using cell phones during instructional time, but the change would expand that prohibition to throughout the school day in elementary and middle schools. Rep. Demi Busatta, a Coral Gables Republican who spearheaded the proposal, described it as “bell to bell.”

The cell-phone change was included in a broader education bill (HB 1105) that passed in the final hours of the last scheduled night of this year’s legislative session. Lawmakers, however, did not finish a budget and are expected to return to the Capitol during the week of May 12 to negotiate a spending plan. While the bill would prohibit cell phone use throughout the day in elementary and middle schools, it would keep the current law about instructional time for high schools. But it also would create a pilot program in six counties that would prevent cell phone use in high schools during the entire school day. Sen. Danny Burgess, a Zephyrhills Republican who led efforts to pass the bill in the Senate, said lawmakers were taking a hybrid approach and cited a “different dynamic” in high schools than in lower grades. The pilot would be in two small counties, two medium-sized counties and two large counties selected by the Department of Education.

Read the full article here.

‍

‍