Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed a bill that will require California school districts to restrict or ban cellphone use by students, putting the state with the nation’s largest K-12 population at the forefront of a growing movement to get distracted students off their devices in the classroom and focused on learning.
The law, called the Phone-Free Schools Act, requires all 1,000 of California’s school districts, charter schools and county offices of education to develop policies on student cellphone use by July 1, 2026. It leaves it up to local schools to decide whether to ban students from cellphone use altogether. But the law requires schools to restrict phone use to “support student learning and well-being.”
“We know that excessive smartphone use increases anxiety, depression and other mental health issues, but we have the power to intervene,” Newsom said in a statement after signing the bill. “This new law will help students focus on academics, social development and the world in front of them — not on their screens — when they are at school.”
The law comes after the Los Angeles Unified School District passed an even stricter policy than the state’s, calling for a complete ban on phones during the school day by January 2025. Details of how the ban will work are under discussion.
California joins several states in a rapidly expanding effort to restrict or ban students from using cell phones while on campus.
Last year, Florida passed a rule banning cellphone use by students in elementary and secondary classrooms. A similar law will go into effect in Indiana next year, while in Ohio the governor recently signed a bill requiring schools to develop policies to “minimize” cellphone use by students. In Virginia, the governor has also ordered schools to have “cellphone-free education” starting in January, requiring students to put their phones away during the day, including at lunch.
In New York City, officials at the nation's largest school system said last month they would shelve plans to reintroduce a cellphone ban, which had been in place until 2015. New York Mayor Eric Adams said he and the schools chancellor wanted to see how restrictions worked in Los Angeles and elsewhere before moving forward.
Though intentionally flexible, California’s law does contain some specifics. It says schools can’t prohibit a student from having a cellphone when a licensed doctor or surgeon says the student needs the device for health-related reasons. It also says that students in certain individualized education programs may be allowed to bypass the restrictions.
Under the law, students will be allowed access to their phones during emergency situations. However, the law does not say that the phone must be the student's device. School districts are the ones to decide what constitutes an emergency and how phones can be used.
The issue of emergencies has been a point of opposition from students and parents. Last month, after students texted their parents during a shooting at a Georgia high school in which four people were killed, Newsom answered questions at a news conference about his support for cellphone restrictions.
“All kinds of considerations will be made” as schools spend the next two years designing policies, she said, adding that cellphones are “disrupting the ability to get quality academic time.”
Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said the district is working on when students can use phones in class, what scenarios will be defined as emergencies and how schools can provide students with “reasonable access” to phones in those circumstances.
In other exceptions, she said, students learning English may need to rely on their devices to learn, just as students with diabetes may need a phone to monitor their glucose levels.
State law also gives teachers and administrators permission to override their school district's policy, thereby creating their own.
The Los Angeles Unified School District still has key decisions to make regarding its rules, including how much autonomy schools will be given to craft their own cellphone policies. Options being considered in Los Angeles include using cellphone cases that remain closed until a student opens them using a magnetic device. Phones could also be collected at the start of a class or placed in cellphone lockers. Technology could also be implemented to make cellphones unusable for calling, texting and accessing the Internet, even if the devices remain in a student’s possession.
“We are pleased to see that the rest of the state can follow our lead in supporting student learning and mental health,” said Los Angeles school board member Nick Melvoin, who authored the Los Angeles resolution.
A district spokesperson added that LAUSD hopes the state law “will foster a dramatic shift in a generation of students who will be able to focus on learning, engage in social interactions and delight in the learning environment without the distractions and danger of cell phones.”
In Los Angeles, teachers and parents have largely been supportive of the restrictions. In addition to emergencies, some parents have expressed concerns about coordinating schedules, such as picking up children from school. Students have been notably less enthusiastic, though some have been persuaded by schools that have already adopted restrictions on cellphone use.
Upon learning of the new state law, Van Nuys High School senior Madison Thacker said she hoped school districts would avoid outright cellphone bans and just enact restrictions.
“There’s a big difference between using your cellphone during class versus not during lunch or dinner or other activities,” said Thacker, who said the Los Angeles ban is “all students talk about” at her school, where she participates in a performing arts program.
“Yes, I understand why we need to limit class time, but mobile phones are part of our lives,” she said. “I don’t see why it’s necessary to take them away from us when we’re not in class. I don’t see why we need a total ban or treat mobile phones like they’re the enemy.”
A handful of Los Angeles public schools had already banned cellphone use before the districtwide measure. Leaders at those schools say the results have been generally positive, though some teachers said enforcing the rules can be difficult and students find ways to get around them, including by bringing two phones to school.
The bill, introduced by Assemblyman Josh Hoover (R-Folsom), easily passed both legislative chambers with Republican and Democratic support. In a letter last month to state schools, Newsom urged “all school districts to act now to restrict smartphone use on campus.”
At least one major group, the California School Boards Association, opposed Newsom's stance on the law.
Spokesman Troy Flint said the measure takes authority away from school district leaders who can do their own research and decide that limiting or banning phones would not benefit their students.
Despite this position, Flint said his association would support school districts in their efforts to follow the new law and monitor its impact and potential unintended consequences.
Times staff writer Mackenzie Mays contributed to this report.
