Department proposes "bell‑to‑bell" cell‑phone advisory; board discusses surveys and local policy implementation

The Department of Education presented a draft technical advisory requiring districts to adopt local policies that effectively implement a "bell to bell" cell‑phone restriction during instructional time.

Commissioner Caitlin Davis said the advisory was prepared after stakeholder feedback and was intended to empower teachers to enforce device restrictions; she described the advisory as requiring a local policy and noted exemptions for instruction. "Bell to bell cell phone ban" was the phrase used to characterize the guidance and staff explained that devices should be "powered off and not accessible" during the school day except for approved instructional uses.

Department staff said they distributed two surveys (for teachers and administrators) and plan additional follow‑up surveys to measure whether local policies are working; they said a student survey would be considered but must follow legal rules for nonacademic surveys and use developmentally appropriate language.

Board members asked procedural questions about device definitions (which would include watches and other personal devices), enforcement options used locally (Yondr bags and similar storage solutions were discussed), and how the Department will incorporate feedback from students, families and school boards. The department said it worked with the New Hampshire School Boards Association and the superintendents association while drafting the advisory and had created informational videos for schools to use.

Next steps: the Department will continue gathering feedback and present assessment data and survey results to the board; local districts retain responsibility to adopt and enforce policies consistent with the advisory.