An Oklahoma House bill that would prohibit the use of cellphones by students during the school day moved forward in the state Senate on Tuesday, the day before the Senate’s bill on the same subject is scheduled to be heard in a House committee.
The issue of cellphones in schools has taken on a high profile in the Legislature, with both chambers conducting interim studies last year about the subject, an indicator that such a ban is a priority for lawmakers.
On Tuesday, by a 7-4 vote that included bipartisan opposition, the Senate Education Committee passed House Bill 1276, authored by Rep. Chad Caldwell, R-Enid, and sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Ally Seifried, R-Claremore. The vote advanced Caldwell’s bill to the Senate floor.
On Wednesday, Seifried’s bill, Senate Bill 139, will be heard in the House Common Education Committee and if it passes, it will move to the Education Oversight Committee. Caldwell is the House sponsor of Seifried’s bill.
State Sen. Ally Seifried is one of the leaders of a push to ban the student use of cellphones in Oklahoma classrooms.
Seifried and Caldwell have worked together for two years on the cellphone legislation. Seifried is the vice chair of the Senate Education Committee, while Caldwell is the vice chair of the House Education Oversight Committee.
Their bills have slight differences. The House bill includes an opt-out provision for district school boards, although such a policy would have to be approved every year by the board. The Senate bill would require districts to develop their own policies to limit student cellphone use for the full school day for the entire 2025-26 school year.
Should both bills pass both chambers, Seifried said the differences in the legislation could be worked out in a joint House-Senate committee.
“This is probably the most important thing we can do for education this year,” Seifried said during debate about the House bill.
More: School cellphone ban passes Oklahoma House as lawmakers debate library book bans, policies
Opposition to cellphone ban in schools came from both Republicans and Democrats
The four senators voting against the bill Tuesday spanned the political spectrum ― far-right Sen. Dusty Deevers, R-Elgin, and Sen. Kendal Sacchieri, R-Blanchard, to Democrats such as Sen. Carri Hicks, D-Oklahoma City, and Sen. Mark Mann, D-Oklahoma City. Of those, only Hicks asked questions about the bill Tuesday.
Hicks, a former teacher, inquired about the timeline of Caldwell’s bill that was being considered, noting school boards would have only until August to develop a policy mandated by the bill. Seifried responded by saying the bill should come as no surprise to districts, given that the subject has been a conversation at the Capitol for more than a year.
Hicks also asked about the timeliness of a school cellphone ban and if there was an appetite to delay the idea.
“This is such an important issue, it warrants a timeliness to it,” Seifried said. “…There is a sense of urgency for me on this.”
Proponents of banning student use of cellphones say it will eliminate distractions in the classroom and improve students’ mental health. Opponents of the legislation mostly believe the decision should be left to local school boards and not mandated by the Legislature.
Caldwell’s bill includes a provision for emergency use, including items used for medical issues.
When his bill passed the House, Caldwell said it “would allow schools the ability to craft their own policies to prohibit the use of cell phones and smartwatches during the school day starting next school year. Schools maintain control, but students reap the benefits.”
Two bills by House’s No. 2 leader move through Senate committee
Also passing out of the Senate committee Tuesday, by an 11-0 vote, was House Bill 1727, a bill by House Speaker Pro Tempore Anthony Moore, R-Clinton, that would allow the children of Oklahoma classroom teachers with at least 10 years of experience to be eligible for the Oklahoma’s Promise program, which allows students from Oklahoma families meeting certain income requirements to earn a college or technology center tuition scholarship.
Another Moore bill, House Bill 1017, passed 9-2, albeit with the title removed, a legislative maneuver that can slow a bill’s progress. Dubbed the “Oklahoma College Athletic Conference Act,” it would create a commission, consisting of presidents of 10 of the 11 NCAA Division II institutions in Oklahoma, to explore the feasibility of creating an all-Oklahoma Division II conference.
Currently, Oklahoma’s Division II universities are spread among three conferences, with teams having to travel to western New Mexico, far south Texas, Nebraska and well into Arkansas for conference games, often bypassing their geographic rivals. Deevers and Sacchieri voted against the bill, which is being sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Dave Rader, R-Tulsa, a former football coach at the University of Tulsa.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Senate committee passes school cellphone ban bill