Bismarck — The House of Representatives approved Senate Bill 23-54 on final passage Tuesday, voting 61-29 to require schools that provide prekindergarten through secondary education to prohibit student use and require physical separation of personal electronic devices from the start to the end of the school day.

The bill, carried in the House by Representative Lindsay Novak, was reported out of the education committee with an amended, 13-1 do-pass recommendation and directs school districts to adopt local policies that meet statewide minimums. Representative Heiner, chair of the education committee, told the chamber the committee’s changes aim to give districts room to tailor implementation and to track effects: “Your education committee gave amended Senate Bill 23-54 a 13-1 do pass recommendation,” he said on the floor.

Supporters said the bill addresses distraction and student mental-health concerns tied to extensive smartphone use. “Teachers don’t want to be the phone police. They want to teach,” Representative Jonas said, urging colleagues to vote in support. Novak summarized the policy aim on the floor: “Senate Bill 23-54 is a bill essentially to ban student use of and access to their personal electronic devices in our schools from the first bell of the day to the last bell of the day,” she said, noting exceptions for school-owned devices and medical needs.

The bill defines “personal electronic communication device” to include smartphones, tablets, smartwatches and gaming devices, and it excludes school-owned devices and approved medical devices. It requires districts to physically separate students from their personal devices during school hours but allows local school boards to set the specific procedures — for example, locker storage, pouches or other methods — within the statute’s parameters. The bill also includes an annual data-collection requirement for districts to report on disciplinary incidents, attendance, academic performance and measures of student behavior and mental health.

To help districts implement physical-storage requirements, lawmakers included an appropriation of $1,500,000 in the Department of Public Instruction budget for grants to purchase secure storage (e.g., lockable phone pouches or lockers). The bill text and committee discussion illustrated the intent that the appropriation could fund roughly up to $30 per student for storage solutions.

Opponents raised several implementation and scope concerns during floor debate. Representative Johnston and others noted the House had just passed a narrower, House-originated bill (House Bill 1160) that would apply only to public schools; they questioned why this Senate bill includes nonpublic schools as well. Representative Holly and others asked about lost or stolen phones and said districts should clarify liability and student-handbook rules for devices that go missing. Novak and other supporters replied that local control and school-district policies would address those issues and that the measure intentionally sets statewide minimums while leaving operational details to districts.

The education committee and bill sponsors emphasized that the legislation is intended to be non‑prescriptive in method but prescriptive in outcome: devices must be silenced and physically separated during school hours, with local districts deciding whether that means lockers, collected pouches, or other measures. The bill includes explicit exceptions for emergency use and for students with medical or individualized education program needs.

The House vote followed roughly 90 minutes of committee and floor discussion that examined logistics for large districts, bus and event travel, and the feasibility of collecting the measure’s required data. Supporters said research links heavy social-media and smartphone use to worsening adolescent mental-health indicators and distractions that impede classroom instruction; supporters argued the bill aligns state policy to research and to actions taken by other states.

The bill now proceeds to the next steps in the legislative process per the chamber’s calendar and any further conference and enrollment actions.

Ending — The measure carries both an implementation appropriation for equipment grants and a state-level data requirement for districts. Sponsors said the combination is intended to make the policy workable in both small and large districts while tracking whether the ban affects behavior, attendance and academic outcomes.