House sends mandatory ‘bell-to-bell’ cellphone ban bill to Oklahoma governor

OKLAHOMA CITY — The state House narrowly passed an altered bill that requires school districts to implement “bell-to-bell” cellphone bans for the upcoming school year.

Senate Bill 139, which passed by a single vote, heads to Gov. Kevin Stitt for consideration.

While it requires schools to ban cellphones and personal electronic devices like smart watches, tablets and smart glasses for one year, it allows districts to lift that ban in any subsequent years.

Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-Enid, said the version that heads to Stitt’s desk is different from the initial version passed by the House. The original version contained an opt out for districts that didn’t want to comply. The Senate version, which heads to Stitt’s desk, contains none.

He said the chambers compromised on a “try it before you buy it, type of policy.” Everyone will be required to try it for a year, but if a district finds the policy doesn’t work for them, and they would like students to have cellphones in class, then they can opt out moving forward, Caldwell said.

How districts implement the ban is up to them, he said.

Rep. Danny Williams, R-Seminole, said he liked the original House bill that would have allowed districts to opt out and provided local control.

“I’m not fond of the requirement because we talk a lot about local control, and it looks like we’re kind of creeping into no control on the first year of this,” he said.

But Caldwell said the bill is consistent with other bills that the Legislature passed because it directs districts on what to do, but gives them flexibility on how to act within those parameters.

“Ultimately, I think where this goes back to is the total local control,” he said. “…After this year, (if) they’re the outlier, they’re the district that their education outcomes didn’t improve, their behavioral problems didn’t decrease, and the school board wants to take the step up and say, ‘No, we want cellphones back in our classes,’ they can do that.”

Caldwell said he hopes Stitt will sign the measure and “we’ll all celebrate next year when our kids can go to a distraction-free classroom.”

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