House Education committee continues debate on H.54 phone-free schools bill, weighs exceptions and social-media rules

The Vermont House Education Committee on April 24, 2025 continued its review of H.54, a bill that would limit personal electronic devices in K–12 schools and restrict direct official communication with students via social media. Committee members largely expressed support for a "bell‑to‑bell" approach — barring phones during the school day — while debating exceptions, the definition of social media, logistics for storage and enforcement, and whether the measure should be a statute or require local policies.

The committee spent most of the meeting discussing where exceptions should apply and how the law should be written. Representative Arsenal, the bill sponsor, framed H.54 as a phone‑free schools bill and opened the session by asking members to identify questions and concerns. Committee members pressed for clarity on several points: whether the statute should include specific exemptions for dual‑enrollment and career and technical education (CTE) courses, how medical exceptions would be documented, whether the law should ban social‑media use on school‑issued devices, and whether districts should be required to adopt policies or given discretion to choose approved communication platforms.

Why it matters: lawmakers said the bill would affect every school district and raise equity and implementation questions. Members repeatedly noted concerns about the time and expense of collecting and securing devices during the day, how to preserve…