House approves bill requiring local school districts to post and monitor cell-phone policies

The Delaware House on Jan. 13 approved Senate Bill 106, a measure to require locally adopted cell-phone policies for students, after the House attached Amendment 2 to the bill.

Representative Williams, who sponsored the amendment on the House floor, said the measure builds on a pilot the General Assembly funded that tested cell-phone pouches. "Eighty-three percent of teachers and staff were in favor of the pouches," Williams said, citing Department of Education survey results and telling colleagues the bill is intended to improve classroom learning environments while preserving local control.

House Amendment 2, as read into the record, incorporates earlier language requiring LEAs to post their adopted cell-phone policies online by Aug. 31, 2026; asks the Department of Education (DOE) to assist by providing nonbinding guidance and model policy language; requires LEAs to include a plan to monitor discipline data related to cell-phone policy violations; and adds a statutory definition of "cell phone." The bill preserves medical and educational accommodations and permits emergency use.

The chief clerk called a roll on the amended bill. The chamber recorded affirmative responses from the members assembled and the presiding officer declared the bill had received the constitutional majority and was passed.

Representative Williams noted the amendment reflects feedback from LEAs and thanked staff who helped draft the change. The bill had passed the Senate with amendments and was adopted in the House as amended; the measure will proceed according to legislative scheduling for enactment.

Next steps: with House passage recorded on the floor, the bill will follow the legislature's standard enrollment and finalization steps toward becoming law.