EDUCATION
New Mexico school cellphone ban clears Senate committee
Bill would set limits on classroom phone use beginning with middle schoolers in 2026-27 school year
Skies John, 18, checks his phone as he leaves Cibola High School in this March 2024 file photo. A bill filed in advance of this year's 60-day legislative session would incentive New Mexico schools to prohibit cellphones in classroom settings.
Teachers, policymakers and union leaders showed their support for a bill that would ban cellphones in schools during a meeting of the state Legislature's Senate Education Committee Monday.
Senate Bill 23, sponsored by Sens. Crystal Brantley, R-Elephant Butte, and Antonio “Moe” Maestas, D-Albuquerque, passed through the committee on a 7-2 vote and will head next to the Senate floor for debate.
The bill requires school districts and charter schools to ban the use of cellphones during the school day. SB23 amends Senate Bill 11, passed last year, which mandated schools adopt a policy regarding cellphone use.
SB23 would allow exceptions for medical necessity, disability accommodation and emergencies. If it passes, the bill would take effect in the 2026-27 school year for grades six through eight; the following year for grades nine through 12; and for kindergarten through grade five in the 2028-29 school year.
The ban includes any device capable of taking photographs or recording video. Schools are required to establish policies for confiscation and storage of the devices during school hours. Schools can choose to enforce the rule how they see fit, though some require students to turn over their phones into sealed pouches at the beginning of each day, legislators said.
The bill allows up to $1 million in grants from the state's education technology infrastructure fund for school districts and charter schools that implement the ban.
“The single most important thing that happens on a school campus is the teaching and learning in the classroom. This bill supports the teachers and supports the learning that is happening by removing distractions,” said Yvonne Garcia, deputy secretary of Student Support Services for the New Mexico Public Education Department.
Representatives from the state’s Higher Education and Early Childhood Education and Care Departments testified in favor of the bill, along with policy groups ExcelinEd in Action, New Mexico Kids Can and Teach Plus New Mexico, as well as the New Mexico chapters of the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association.
Organizer John Dyrcz of AFT New Mexico called the bill the “logical next step” in cellphone policy at Monday’s hearing, and said the union’s teachers have reported positive classroom growth following last year’s cellphone legislation.
“They also appreciate that they’re not the ones having to police cellphones in classrooms anymore, and that has allowed them to focus on their craft,” Dyrcz said.
Including charter schools, 98 school districts across New Mexico have enacted all-day cellphone bans since the passing of SB11 last year, while 113 have no policy, Garcia said.
Albuquerque Public Schools already has a policy banning cellphones during instructional time with limited exceptions, said APS spokesperson Martin Salazar. The district’s policy is for phones to be kept out of sight and powered off during the school day and any school-sponsored activity, meeting or practice held on APS property, except for medical or instructional purposes, Salazar said. Enforcement practices vary depending on the school.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has indicated the bill is a priority for her administration — the governor called for a New Mexico-wide school cellphone ban in her State of the State address last month.
According to the PED, 32 states across the country have banned cellphones in schools, and 17 require school policies regulating phone use.
Committee members acknowledged that not being able to contact students during the school day may make some parents uneasy amid rising school violence.
“Because of what happens in our schools right now, parents carry a lot of fear when they let their child go into that building,” Sen. Natalie Figueroa, D-Albuquerque, said Monday.
Emergency access to cellphones is allowed under the bill, though Figueroa, a former Spanish teacher at Volcano Vista High School, said the best way to handle a family emergency is via landline.
“A student being informed via text in my classroom that their grandpa died is not the ideal way to handle that kind of family emergency,” she said. “The call to the office or to the counselor’s office to get that news is much more appropriate.”
The bill did not receive any formal opposition in Monday’s hearing, though Sen. William Soules, D-Las Cruces, also a former teacher, said he had concerns over how online charter schools would ensure students were cellphone-free during the day.
Soules voted against the measure, along with Sen. Harold Pope, D-Albuquerque, who said he had reservations about how the ban would be enforced.
“I’m not against what you’re trying to do here,” Pope said. “I think this is important, but I think we’re already on that path and we don’t really need to have statewide policy.”
Natalie Robbins covers education for the Journal. You can reach her at nrobbins@abqjournal.com.
