Committee backs bill requiring school districts to adopt distraction‑free device policies

The Idaho House Education Committee voted to advance Senate Bill 1032, a measure that would require every school district to adopt a "distraction‑free learning" policy for cell phones and similar personal electronic devices.

Senator and Representative sponsors told the committee that evidence and local experience show removing phones from classrooms improves focus, classroom engagement and student social interaction. "The evidence that we need to be getting cell phones out of classrooms at this point is becoming overwhelming," said Representative James Petzke, who introduced the bill in the House. Petzke told the committee the legislation preserves local flexibility and exemptions for special‑needs students and medical needs.

School districts and students offered supportive testimony. Cliff Rice, director of secondary instruction for West Ada School District, described a district policy that requires high‑school students to deposit phones in a classroom vault and said administrators have seen fewer hallway incidents and increased engagement. "Our staff have done a fantastic job," Rice said. "We continue to be in that 80% of our students actually have their cell phones in that vault, which we will take as a win any day."

Twin Falls School District public‑relations director Eva Crainer told the committee her district implemented a broader policy that also covers smartwatches and earbuds and that the district allowed phones to remain in backpacks (silenced) for emergency access. "We chose to allow students to have their phones in their backpacks, as long as they were completely silenced," Crainer said, adding that community involvement helped shape the policy.

Two students from high schools that have adopted similar rules described social and learning benefits. "Without our phones we're sort of forced to connect with the people around us," said Mikayle Roy, a student witness, adding that classroom conversation and peer questions increase when phones are removed. Joey Fonseca, a junior at Oyehie High School, said students report being more focused and relieved by the policy.

The bill passed the committee on a motion to send SB 1032 to the House with a due‑pass recommendation; the motion carried by voice vote and the transcript does not record a roll‑call tally. Sponsors and supporters said the bill intentionally leaves enforcement details to locally elected school boards and includes flexibility for special‑education accommodations and legitimate medical needs.

SB 1032 now moves to the full House for consideration. The committee record includes multiple school‑district models and student testimony on how districts have implemented device policies.