House Education Committee directs draft of model policy to ban cell phones bell-to-bell and limit compelled social media use

The Vermont House Education Committee on May 8 continued work on H.54 and directed legislative staff to produce draft language requiring the Agency of Education, in consultation with the Vermont School Boards Association, to develop a required model policy that would prohibit student use of cell phones from arrival to dismissal and prohibit schools from compelling students to use social media for out-of-school academic work or school-sponsored activities.

The action grows out of debate on three related aims in H.54: a bell-to-bell ban on cell phones and similar devices, a prohibition on compelling students to use social media to participate in schoolwork or activities, and limits on schools’ use of social media more broadly. Committee members and witnesses repeatedly framed the bill as addressing student mental health and classroom disruption.

Committee discussion balanced two central points: members pressed for a clear, enforceable requirement that schools adopt bell-to-bell policies, while others warned that defining “social media” and the universe of personal electronic devices is complex and rapidly changing. St. James of the Office of Legislative…