Cell phone ban legislation clears Senate committee
[March 20, 2025]
By Peter Hancock
SPRINGFIELD – Legislation that would prohibit public school students
from using cell phones and other wireless communication devices during
class time cleared a Senate committee Tuesday and could soon be
considered by the full Senate.
It’s a policy change that Gov. JB Pritzker called for in his State of
the State address in February and one that has been gaining popularity
in recent years throughout the United States.
According to the health policy website KFF.org, at least nine other
states have adopted statewide policies limiting or banning the use of
cell phones in schools. Elsewhere, even in the absence of a statewide
policy, individual districts have begun acting on their own, including
Peoria Public Schools, which implemented its own ban this year.
“This policy has proven effective in reducing distractions, enhancing
student focus and better fostering social interaction,” Peoria
Superintendent Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat told the committee. “Our data
indicates it has also contributed to reducing reduction in bullying and
physical fighting, thus creating a safer environment for students.”
Senate Bill 2427, sponsored by Sen. Christina Castro, D-Elgin, would
require all school boards to adopt policies prohibiting the use of
wireless communication devices during instructional time. That would
include any wireless device such as cell phones, laptops, tablets and
gaming devices that can provide voice, messaging or other data
communication between two or more parties.
However, it would not include school-issued devices or devices that
students are required to possess or use for educational purposes.
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Sen. Christina Castro, right, and Samir Tanna, deputy legislative
director for Gov. JB Pritzker, testify before a Senate committee
Tuesday on a bill that would require all school districts in
Illinois to adopt policies restricting cell phone use in classrooms.
(Capitol News Illinois photo by Peter Hancock)
The district policies would, at a minimum, prohibit the use of those
devices during instructional time. But the policies would also have to
allow exceptions that allow students to use them during emergencies or
in response to an imminent threat to someone’s health or safety.
The policies must also provide exceptions if the devices are needed as
part of an individual educational plan for a student with disabilities,
or if they are needed for medical care.
The new policies would have to be in place in time for the 2026-27
academic year.
Castro said she’s aware that some districts have already adopted
policies that are stricter than the standards set forth in the bill,
while other districts have not yet adopted any type of limitation on
cell phone use.
“This is a floor,” she said. “So if school districts want to get more
aggressive, like saying they don’t want elementary school students to
have cell phones, they can. But again, this is the floor. The reason
this policy is coming forward is because not everyone’s been creating
this policy. This sets a standard that all school districts have to
follow.”
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