New Mexico school cellphone ban clears Senate

A bill banning the use of cellphones during the school day passed the state Senate, 32-6, late Sunday night.

Senate Bill 23, sponsored by Sens. Crystal Brantley, R-Elephant Butte, and Antonio “Moe” Maestas, D-Albuquerque, is an amendment to Senate Bill 11 passed last year, which mandated schools adopt a policy regarding cellphone use. 

SB 23 would prohibit cellphone usage from the first bell to the last bell of the school day, including during lunch and passing periods. The bill has exceptions for medical purposes — if a diabetic student needs to monitor their blood glucose on a cellphone, for example — instructional purposes, and in case of an emergency.

The ban includes any device capable of taking photographs or recording video. Schools are required to establish policies for the confiscation and storage of the devices. Some districts may choose to use lockable pouches, for which $1 million in funding from the state’s education technology infrastructure fund is available over a period of two years.

If the bill passes, New Mexico will join 26 other states that have banned cellphones in schools, Brantley said.

The other states are “red states like Arkansas, and blue states like California,” Brantley told the Senate. “And they are all seeing great improvement.”

The bill received support from the New Mexico Public Education, Higher Education and Early Childhood Education and Care departments in the Senate Education Committee, as well as multiple education policy groups and both New Mexico teachers unions. There was no formal opposition in the meeting, though several senators showed reservations during Sunday night’s debate.

Sen. William Soules, D-Las Cruces, a former teacher, called the ban “totally unenforceable.” Cellphone policies, Soules said, were up to each school board and should not be decided by the state government. 

Under SB 11, school districts already have the authority to ban cellphones completely, which some, such as Albuquerque Public Schools, have done, though they are not required to do so.

“Good teachers rarely have a problem with devices in classrooms,” Soules said.

The measure picked up some changes after it was introduced. The first adjustment removed the three-year implementation plan included in the first draft of the legislation. The plan would have started the cellphone ban with middle schoolers in the 2026-27 school year, then with high schoolers the following year, and finally with elementary schoolers in the 2028-29 school year. The ban will now take effect for all grades at once if it passes.

Another amendment, proposed by Senate Finance Committee Chair George Muñoz, D-Gallup, limits the number of years a school district can receive grants from the state for lockable pouches or other cellphone ban enforcement materials to two.

Some senators showed reservations about the cost of enforcing the ban. Muñoz said his wife bought an over-the-door shoe holder from Ross to hold cellphones in her classroom that has worked just as well as a locked pouch.

“We’re going to spend millions on a simple problem that we could have solved cheaply,” he said.

Shoe holders might work for young children, but don’t work so well for high schoolers, Brantley countered.

“The reality is that today’s schools look much different than classrooms when we were in them,” she said.

The six “no” votes came from Democrats Angel Charley of Acoma, Debbie O’Malley and Harold Pope of Albuquerque, Shannon Pinto of Tohatchi, Benny Shendo of Jemez Pueblo and Soules.

The bill now moves to the House of Representatives. This year's legislative session ends Thursday.

Natalie Robbins covers education for the Journal. You can reach her at nrobbins@abqjournal.com.