Jan. 15—SANTA FE — In many New Mexico schools, cellphones have become as ubiquitous as backpacks.
But a Senate Republican has filed legislation for the upcoming 60-day session that would incentivize school districts to prohibit cellphones in classrooms.
Specifically, the bill introduced by Sen. Crystal Brantley, R-Elephant Butte, would set aside $10 million to reimburse schools that buy and implement bins or other devices where phones can be stored during instructional time.
It would be up to the state Public Education Department to distribute the funding to school boards or charter schools that adopt “anti-distraction” policies.
Brantley, who was elected in November to her second term, said the idea sprouted from her own experiences with her two teenage daughters.
“It’s important to me to make sure this is an incentive program and not a mandate on our schools,” she said in a Wednesday interview.
A 2023 Common Sense Media survey found about half of U.S. children get their own cellphone by age 11. It also found that about 97% of children used their phones during school hours, with students handling their phones a median amount of 13 times per day.
Many New Mexico school districts already have policies prohibiting cellphones in class settings, though enforcement of those policies can be spotty.
Albuquerque Public Schools, for instance, has a procedural directive that student cellphones must be “kept out of sight and powered off or silenced during the school day” and during school-sponsored activities, with certain exceptions.
But an APS spokesman said Wednesday that enforcement of the prohibition takes place at the school level and varies from school to school.
The state’s largest school district will review the legislation and its potential impact, the spokesman added.
At least nine states have enacted legislation dealing with student cellphone possession or use since 2023, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
In addition, the Los Angeles Unified School District, one of the nation’s largest districts, approved a student cellphone ban that will take effect next month.
Louisiana has also adopted a statewide prohibition on students possessing phones during the school day, with exceptions for students who need the devices for health or special education reasons.
New Mexico has not approved any statewide policy on student cellphone use or possession, and Brantley said tackling the issue could be particularly important in a state that has long struggled with low academic proficiency measures.
“When you’re in school, you need to be focused on school,” Brantley said.
She also said she’s working on trying to line up Democratic support for her proposal, adding the issue should not be a partisan one.
With the 60-day legislative session set to begin next week, the bill is already winning support from at least one local teachers union leader.
Whitney Holland, the president of the American Federation of Teachers union in New Mexico, said Wednesday said K-12 teachers in the state listed student cellphone use as one of their top concerns in a recent survey.
“It’s definitely on educators’ minds,” she told the Journal.
But she also said the issue is complex, as some parents oppose bans on student cellphone use in classrooms due to safety or health-related concerns.
Despite those concerns, Holland said the incentive-based approach would alleviate much of the enforcement burden from teachers.
“I do think this is an approach we’re going to be supportive of,” she said.