In the push for a statewide school cellphone ban in Maine, local control could stand in the way

Yahoo

15-05-2025

May 15—Maine's ethos around local school district control could impede a statewide coalition of Maine parents, teachers, administrators and health professionals who want to ban cellphones in schools, from the first bell to the last.
A bill introduced in the state Legislature this session would have banned cellphones from the start of the school day to the end in public schools across the state, and received mostly supportive testimony during an April hearing.
But at a work session this month, lawmakers transformed LD 1234 into a resolve that would require school districts in Maine to simply have a comprehensive policy around cellphones in schools by August 2026, not necessarily a ban. The Education and Cultural Affairs Committee advanced that amended bill in an 11-2 vote on May 2.
"There is a desire to acknowledge that we all think that electronic devices, specifically smart phones and watches in schools, are having an undue effect on educational practice and our ability to have our kids focus, among other things," Sen. Teresa Pierce, D-Cumberland, said during the work session. "But we live in the reality of Maine, of a local control state, where everything really is driven by what your local community does and the decisions that they make."
Parents and educators who have long advocated for a statewide ban are getting behind the new measure, which they say is a good first step, but still hope a bell-to-bell ban is on the horizon.
MODEL POLICY
Some Maine school districts have already banned cellphones from bell-to-bell. Regional School Unit 1, the district based in Bath, was the first to do so when it banned phones last June and put the policy into effect this school year. Now, the principal of RSU 1's Morse High School, Eric Varney, is showing other school districts how they can do it.
"We've had a tremendous amount of districts reach out to us and do site visits and come talk to our students and talk to our teachers," he said. "And many, many of those schools are moving ahead with a bell-to-bell plan for their next school year."
Portland, the state's largest school district, is in the process of developing a similar policy.
For his own school, Varney said, the impact of an all-out phone ban has been quick and extremely positive.
"I've had teachers that have been in the business for 40 years say this is the single best thing, best policy change, they've seen in their 40 years," Varney said.
Morse requires students to put their phone in a Yondr Pouch, a magnetically locking bag that the school provides for each student. Varney said student focus has been better this year, school suspensions have decreased by 50%, socialization has improved, teacher morale has risen and rollout has been easier than expected.
The change in RSU 1 has been inspiring for people like Stacy Taylor and Crystal Schreck, Falmouth parents and members of Turn the Tide Coalition, a group that advocates for less technology access for children.
"I'm passionate about this because I have two kids of cellphone age and I'm watching it take over their lives," Schreck said. "It's really a problem and not enough is being done about it."
Schreck and Taylor were enthusiastic supporters of LD 1234 in its previous form; they said advocates have met resistance trying to pass policies at the district level, and feel like it's the right time for a state-level action.
"Every student deserves the benefit of a phone-free school, not just the school or district that has taken the effort to make a policy change," Taylor said. She pointed to more than a dozen other states that have recently passed or are actively considering similar bans at the state level, from New York to North Dakota to Rhode Island.
LOCAL CONTROL
While many parents and educators celebrated the possibility of a bell-to-bell ban at the April hearing, larger educational organizations, like the Maine School Management Association, said they understand concerns about cellphones but discouraged lawmakers from overreaching.
"L.D. 1234 ignores that local control and the important work that school districts are already undertaking around this issue," the MSMA wrote. "Imposing this mandate will not allow for community collaboration to tackle this challenge."
The idea of local control has long influenced Maine policy making, said Robbie Feinberg, spokesperson for the MSMA. It's a general philosophy that local leaders know how to best set policy for their communities.
He said districts across the state are already looking at cellphone restrictions, but doing so in communication with their communities, where local families might have a desire to have a more nuanced policy.
"The push back on the local level is that a full bell-to-bell ban would take away that local decision-making, being able to decide exactly where phones are an important part within the school day, and where they are not," Feinberg said.
The Maine Principals' Association didn't take a stance on the bill, writing that it recognizes the benefits of reducing cellphone use in schools but cautioning lawmakers about the precedent of local control. The Maine Department of Education also said it was neither for nor against the ban, and wrote in testimony that the department understood the complex challenge of phones, but had concerns about the bill's approach.
"Singling out phones for elimination may offer short-term relief, but it may impact students' ability to manage technology responsibly," wrote Beth Lambert, chief teaching and learning officer at the department. "Our goal should be to help students navigate, not avoid, the digital complexities of their lives."
Taylor and Schreck with Turn the Tide said LD 1234 as amended provides a good starting point for a statewide push to get cellphones out of the school day. They're advocating for passage of the bill in its new form, but in the longer term are still looking toward a statewide ban.
"Personally, that would be fantastic, I would love to see that," Schreck said. "But I think realistically...in this session, this is what we get, and we're very grateful to be even moving forward."
Schreck said her coalition was pleased with the Education Committee's discussions about providing a model cellphone policy for districts. They're hoping RSU 1's might serve as that model.
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