Vermont committee backs model policy to bar student cellphone use “from arrival to dismissal,” tasks AOE with annual review

The House Committee on Education on May 9 moved to send draft language to the Senate for inclusion in H.480 that would require the Agency of Education (AOE), in consultation with the Vermont School Boards Association (VSBA), to develop a model student cell phone and personal electronic device policy and to review it at least annually.

The draft language, read into the record by legislative counsel Beth St. James, would “prohibit student use of cell phones and non‑school issued personal electronic devices that connect to cellular networks, the Internet, or have Bluetooth capabilities at school from arrival to dismissal,” while the model policy would provide exceptions for items required by a student’s individualized health care plan, an IEP or 504 plan, or when approved by an administrator for an academic purpose.

Why it matters: the change aims to create a statewide floor so school boards and approved independent schools must adopt policies at least as stringent as the AOE model. Committee members focused on scope (cell phones only versus broader electronic devices), enforceability, whether possession as well as use should be prohibited, and the timeline for implementation.

What the committee discussed

- Scope and phrasing. Representative Harpold argued for stronger language, saying it is “much clearer” to “prohibit use of cell phones and personal electronic devices at school from arrival to dismissal” rather than the draft’s softer “limit or prohibit.” Beth St. James summarized the working draft and the committee repeatedly returned to whether to keep the focus strictly on cell phones or to include a defined set of personal…