Pupils: use of smartphones: prohibition.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide specific details on enforcement costs or reimbursement decisions.

Rules for Smartphone Use in Schools

This law requires schools to create and update rules that prohibit students from using smartphones during school hours or while under teacher supervision.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the governing board of a school district, county board of education, and charter school governing body to develop and adopt policies by July 1, 2027, prohibiting pupils' use of smartphones at schoolsites or under employee supervision.
• Updates these rules every five years.
• Makes adopted policies available to the State Department of Education upon request.

Who It Names or Affects

• Students in California who attend public or charter schools
• School boards that make rules for schools

Terms To Know

Bell-to-bell ban

A rule that stops students from using smartphones during the entire school day, from when the first class starts until after the last class ends.

State-mandated local program

When the state government tells local schools or districts what rules they must follow.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how much it will cost to enforce these new rules.
• It is unclear if and when the Commission on State Mandates will decide that this law requires reimbursement for local agencies.

Official Summary Text

AB 1644, as amended, Muratsuchi.
Pupils: use of
smartphones.
smartphones: prohibition.
Existing law requires the governing board of a school district, a county board of education, and the governing body of a charter school to, no later than July 1, 2026, develop and adopt, and update every 5 years, a policy to limit or prohibit the use by its pupils of smartphones while the pupils are at a schoolsite or while the pupils are under the supervision and control of an employee or employees of that local educational agency.
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact subsequent legislation that would impose a bell-to-bell restriction on pupils’ use of smartphones during the schoolday.
This
bill would make these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2027, and would repeal it as of January 1, 2028.
The bill would instead require the governing board of a school district, a county board of education, and the governing body of a charter school to, no later than July 1, 2027, develop and adopt, and update every 5 years, a policy that prohibits the use of smartphones by pupils while the pupils are at a schoolsite or while the pupils are under the supervision and control of an employee or employees of that local educational agency. The bill would require the adopted policy to be made available to the State Department of Education upon request. The bill would state that the goal of the policy is to create a bell-to-bell ban of smartphone use to support pupil learning and well-being. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would constitute a state-mandated local program.
The
California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Current Bill Text

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