SmartTranscript of House Education - 2025-05-09 - 3:00 PM

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[Chair Peter Conlon]: And what? We are at, House of Education on, May ninth, twenty twenty five. We are just sort of wrapping up language that we will be, sending to the senate for consideration, on phone free schools. I guess we'll get why don't we get right into the language and we'd love to have you share your screen. [Beth St. James]: Thank you. Beth St. James, Office of Legislative Council. So we're looking at draft five point one. We've already looked at this draft. This has just been edited. I have made no other changes other than taking out a subject, section heading that didn't need to be there anymore. Section one, the finding section with a small bit of intent language has not changed. So section two, how high level do you wanna be? Do you wanna walk back with me again? Committee? [Chair Peter Conlon]: I know. I'm seeing I'm seeing shaking heads. So we've [Beth St. James]: got a definition for cell phone, individualized health care plan, parents, school, and students. No definition of electronic device. No definition of social media. Student use of cell phones and personal electronic devices. This language requires AOE in consultation with the School Boards Association to develop and review at least annually a policy subject to some exceptions that prohibits student use of cell phones and non school issued personal electronic devices that connect to cellular networks, the Internet, or have Bluetooth capabilities at school from arrival to dismissal. The exceptions are if use of such device is required as part of a student's IEP, individualized health care plan, or five zero four plan, or approved by an administrator for an academic purpose. It's the end of cell phones and personal electronic Oh, nope. That's fine. Then you require each school district and each approved independent school to adopt policies that are at least as stringent as the model policy. And if they don't, then they are deemed to have adopted the model policy beginning in the twenty twenty six-twenty twenty seven school year. Use, so we're in a separate section now. Use of social media platforms in education. There's no policy contemplated here. It's just a flat out prohibition. Schools, school districts, and SUs shall be prohibited from utilizing social media for communication with students directly unless the program or platform is approved by the school district. And if, the school district is only can only approve programs that allow school officials to archive all communications and prevent communications from being edited or deleted once they've been sent. Schools, etcetera, are also prohibited from requiring students to use social media for out of school academic work, school sports, extracurricular clubs, or any other out of school school sponsored activities. Section three, implementation. This is a piece of session law that requires AOE to develop and publish the model policy for cell phone and personal electronic device use on or before January first of twenty twenty six. And then subsection B requires school boards and approved independent schools to adopt policies based on the model policy on or before July one, twenty twenty six to be effective in the twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven school year, and the entire act would take effect on July one, twenty twenty five. [Chair Peter Conlon]: Questions, comments? Okay. We will forward this language then to the senate for their consideration. If everybody's feeling okay, great. Good, hard, efficient work. That concludes [Angel ]: That's a wrap. [Chair Peter Conlon]: Our discussion of Phone Free Schools for the time being had. Oh, boy. Oh, yes. Please. You're Just [Angel ]: a drafting question. [Chair Peter Conlon]: Yes. Or I'm You're you're gonna have to introduce yourself. [Angel ]: Angel Arc, no representative. [Chair Peter Conlon]: Sponsor the bill. [Angel ]: Sponsor the bill. And I'm just curious if by page four, line twenty one, where you say beginning with the twenty six twenty seven school year, each board shall develop, adopt, ensure the ensure the enforcement of. Do you do do you feel like that makes it clear? Because I know in the, you know, page six, it makes it very clear to be effective for the twenty six, twenty seven school year. But with the word develop in that sentence, I wonder if it makes it sound like beginning of the twenty six, twenty seven school year, school board should begin this process of developing, adopting, ensuring new person. So maybe it just needs [Chair Peter Conlon]: to say adopt adopt your policy here. This is a good question for legislative council. [Beth St. James]: So I think that it's fine because what we're looking at on page and I think we're looking at page five line nine in draft five point one. [Angel ]: It's it's in both. Okay. Because, yeah, page four and page five. Okay. [Beth St. James]: This is going in statute. And so you're saying starting with this school year, they have to always have these policies. And I think you'd want the develop, adopt and ensure the enforcement of language to live in the statute because you all are contemplating a change of school districts. They're gonna have to come up with their own new policies. So you're actually literally living in a world in which the policies that are potentially developed for the twenty twenty six, twenty twenty seven school year would need to be redeveloped completely. Well, new names would need to be put on them, whatever. I think the implementation language clears that up that the policy has to be in place to be effective for the twenty twenty six, twenty seven school year. I don't I don't see a problem with it. If you hear from the field, this is pretty common language. [Chair Peter Conlon]: And I would just say, if there is some something that comes up, this is an area where the senate can fix it before they send it over to us. [Angel ]: I will have just one other We're just wondering if non school issued, and I know you got people all talk to the committee talked about this a lot, non school issued personal electronic devices. If is non school issued and personal redundant? Doesn't [Chair Peter Conlon]: matter. I would go with belt suspenders on that one, maybe. Okay. [Beth St. James]: Interesting. I [Chair Peter Conlon]: apologize. This one yet? Commonly, you shouldn't say that. You know, you don't need you you don't really need belt and suspenders, but you one backs up the other. I really don't want your pants to [Beth St. James]: fall that out. Just again, so non [Angel ]: You know, any issue personal. Person. Is non school issue personal Mhmm. Instead of non school issued electronic device? Or It could be a non school laptop. That could be a non school. And when Well, the question is do we need personal device we're worried about. Or do [Chair Peter Conlon]: you do personal laptop. So personal [Beth St. James]: Yeah. I've always thought of the personal as modifying not the possession, but the type of electronic device. Too. But but yeah. So I don't think I I don't think it hurts, but I I hear you. I see. [Angel ]: Okay. Well, it it doesn't it doesn't hurt. I just didn't since it's not defined, personal electronic device and electronic device are not are no longer defined. So I just know if that was, like I don't think it'll be confusing. I just didn't know if that's relevant. [Chair Peter Conlon]: It it is funny because I always think of just, like, the hidden personal or my product devices or definition itself. They define the device. [Beth St. James]: Yes. Totally different. Okay. Like, rather than how we've talked about Rather than ownership, I guess. No. I'm like I'm thinking of it, like, an electronic device, like, without a definition. Just a straight up electronic device could be anything that's electronic. Yeah. Like a microwave. Right. But when I think of personal electronic device, I think of what you're talking about. But again, this is a great example of why definitions matter [Chair Peter Conlon]: Yeah. Or [Beth St. James]: can matter. [Angel ]: I think that's where the the Bluetooth cellular and Wi Fi is And it's set up on the files. [Chair Peter Conlon]: Well, yeah, I could I could if the senate sort of takes a deep dive into this, I could see them saying, well, Bluetooth technology may be different. I mean, they don't call Bluetooth anymore, so maybe come up with a more generic term for that. [Angel ]: Address option. [Chair Peter Conlon]: Well, and that's why they're gonna look at it every year. Yeah. Right. Things change. They're they they tweak it. Yeah. Good point.
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