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Council approves Disconnect Amendment Act to limit in-school device enforcement; some members urge stronger monitoring by OSSE
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Summary
The Council passed the Disconnect Amendment Act (Heads Up/Disconnect) after adopting amendments that remove funding triggers and strike a fiscal impact statement; sponsors said schools and the State Education Agency will work on implementation and monitoring.
The Council on July 1 approved the Disconnect Amendment Act of 2025, legislation intended to limit student access to personal devices during the school day and to provide a model policy framework for local education agencies.
Councilmember Brooke Pinto, sponsor of the measure, said the bill (originally introduced as Heads Up Distraction Free Learning Amendment Act) was refined in consultation with the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), DC Public Schools and charter leaders. Pinto said the adopted amendment removed the majority of OSSE's enforcement duties from the introduced version and addressed fiscal-impact language so the bill had no net negative fiscal effect.
Several members supported the policy aims but questioned how OSSE would monitor compliance. Councilmember Parker asked whether OSSE could absorb the cost and provide monthly monitoring; Mendelson and others replied that much of the supervisory role could be absorbed within existing OSSE duties and via oversight hearings. Councilmember Henderson said some local education agencies already plan to move forward, and worried that the state education agency had been slow to implement prior recommendations.
Pinto said she would continue to work with OSSE and schools over the next year to ensure implementation and to avoid punitive approaches to students.
The Council adopted an oral amendment that deleted the bill's applicability section and otherwise approved the bill as amended. The chair reported the ayes had it; one member asked to be recorded as no on the final tally. The bill clears the Council with instructions to conform implementation language with OSSE and school leaders.
