New bill aims to require districts, charters to restrict phones in classrooms

A bill that would require each school district and charter school to adopt policies restricting students’ cell phone use during school hours was introduced in April and will be discussed during Wednesday’s Senate Education Committee meeting.

Senate Bill 106 would require that each school district’s or charter school’s policy include a requirement that limits phone usage during instructional time, consequences for violating the cell phone policy, and exceptions to the policy that apply to emergency situations. 

The premise of the bill is to “send a strong message” to school boards that the General Assembly has their backs when it comes to implementing effective policies that limit cell phone usage, said State Sen. Eric Buckson (R-Dover), who is sponsoring the bill.

If approved, each district and charter will provide the Delaware Department of Education with its policy, and will be required to publish the policy on its website by Aug. 1.

Existing phone policies in Delaware schools

Last year, lawmakers approved $250,000 to test an expansion of cell-hiding pouches, like those made by tech company YONDR, in middle and high schools.

Some schools, like George Reed Middle School in the Colonial School District, have already established phone-free environments.

George Reed Middle School Principal Nicholas Wolfe has utilized an “expectation and enforcement of the expectation” structure to create a phone-free environment since the 2022-23 academic year. The expectation is that phones will not be used because they’re out of sight, with YONDR phone pouches being the tool to enforce that expectation.

Starting during this school year, the Brandywine School District required that students’ phones must remain turned off and placed in a teacher-designated cell phone organizer.

Brandywine’s students may use their phones during their lunch period, in the hallways between classes, and before or after school.

Buckson learned about Branndywine’s phone policy while drafting the bill, and said the district’s policy “gave credibility” to his desire not to rewrite regulations for districts that already have effective policies.

“The bill is drafted in a way that gives some kind of guidance directive, but doesn’t make it specific, because maybe the [YONDR] pouches are something [districts are] already doing. Maybe it’s something that’s cost-prohibitive at this time, or it’s just something they don’t need to do because they’ve got other measures,” Buckson said. 

$500K to remove phones from classrooms?

Gov. Matt Meyer also included $500,000 in his Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal to remove cell phones from classrooms.

“One thing that does not help students succeed is cell phone use in schools. From bullying to TikTok, there is no reason for any student, at any level, in a Delaware public school, to be using a cell phone in class,” Meyer said during his “State of the State” address last month.

Studies have found a strong correlation between media multitasking and attention problems and evidence for potential detrimental long-term effects among early adolescents.

While both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have supported measures to limit cell phone usage inside the classroom, Rep. Bryan Shupe expressed concern over Meyer’s FY 2026 budget line item.

“If a district wants a no-phone policy, they can simply make one,” Shupe wrote in a Facebook post. “Why would we need half a million dollars to enforce this?”

When asked if he sponsored the bill because of concerns similar to Shupe’s, Buckson said he wasn’t sure what the $500,000 would be directed toward, but that he shares the governor’s belief that phones negatively impact classroom instruction.

“The $500,000 I can’t speak to. I don’t know specifically what that’s going to be used for, I’ll leave that up for the governor to decide whether or not that’s an effective measure,” Buckson said.