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Governor proposes $1.5 million to help schools buy secure phone storage as cell‑phone policy moves through chambers
Summary
A governor’s office representative asked the committee to adopt an amendment that would provide $1.5 million in one‑time reimbursements to school districts that choose to buy secure phone storage after passage of proposed statewide cell‑phone policies; committee members questioned rollout details and equity of a partial reimbursement pool.
Maria Nessa, Chief of Staff to Lieutenant Governor Stranden and senior advisor to Governor Armstrong, asked the committee to adopt a governor’s amendment to provide one‑time reimbursement funding for schools that choose to buy secure phone storage devices if a statewide cell‑phone policy is enacted.
Nessa said the amendment would add $1.5 million in one‑time funding to reimburse districts that purchase lockers, pouches or other secure storage: “Do schools have to use this? No, they do not,” she said, noting districts with existing locker systems would not need the money. The governor’s office described the funding as a modest incentive to help schools implement a policy that would require students to silence and securely store personal electronic devices during instructional time.
Committee members raised practical and policy questions. Some asked how the dollars would be allocated (first‑come, first‑serve or by formula) and whether the $1.5 million would be sufficient for meaningful statewide coverage. Others said local school boards should decide implementation and questioned whether the state should partially fund equipment for some districts and not others.
Senators also asked how the model policies that accompany the bills would define “secure storage.” Maria Nessa read the language from one House bill that would require devices to be “silenced or turned off, securely locked away and inaccessible to students during instructional time,” and said local boards would draft model policies if the bill passes.
A student, Aspen Thielen of Garrison, told the committee that phones can be a distraction but noted some classes rely on phones for classroom work. Aspen said in some local implementations where a school adopted a no‑phone policy, teachers and students adapted before new storage devices arrived. The committee did not take action on the amendment and members asked the governor’s office to provide more details about allocation and implementation before further consideration.
No formal vote was taken.
