Council advances revised student cellphone policy; state education agency monitoring removed from amended bill
Summary
Council member Brooke Pinto moved the Disconnect Amendment Act of 2025 (Bill 26‑73), aiming to limit student access to personal electronic devices during the school day; the Committee adopted an amendment-in-the-nature-of-a-substitute that removed a statutory monitoring requirement for the State Education Agency (OSSE).
Council member Brooke Pinto moved the Disconnect Amendment Act of 2025 (bill 26‑73), a measure designed to limit student access to personal electronic devices during school hours. Pinto said she introduced the bill to “empower our students and our teachers to get the most from learning in school” and described revisions made since introduction.
The amendment nature of a substitute adopted in Committee removed many of the original OSSE‑monitoring requirements; Pinto and other members discussed whether OSSE should retain a formal compliance monitoring role. Pinto said she remained concerned about removing an OSSE monitoring requirement and intends to work with OSSE over the next school year on implementation. Council member Parker asked whether OSSE could absorb the cost of monitoring; council members debated how much agency resources would be needed. Council member Fruman and others expressed concern that removing OSSE’s compliance role might leave the policy as “on paper only.”
The Committee adopted the ANS and then approved the bill as amended by voice vote. An oral amendment deleting an applicability section was accepted to ensure a no‑fiscal‑impact path; Council Member Parker and others recorded questions about resource needs for monitoring and for schools to implement the policy.
Members emphasized the policy is intended not to create new punishments for students; Pinto noted the bill includes language forbidding discipline that punishes students for device possession. The Committee voted and the bill as amended moved out of Committee for further Council consideration.
