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 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.