House Education Committee guts cellphone ban, replaces mandate with recommendation

TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas House Education Committee stripped a proposed statewide cellphone ban for schools down to a recommendation Monday, voting after a marathon session of eight amendments to swap the word "shall" with "may" in House Bill 2421 — transforming the measure from a mandate into guidance. Rep. Sherri Brantley, R-Hoisington, proposed the successful amendment after her earlier effort to exempt accredited private schools failed on a 7-9 vote.

The bill had rare bipartisan backing: Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly endorsed the concept of an in-school ban, 28 Republicans and Democrats co-sponsored a companion bill in the Senate (SB 302) and advocacy groups cited a January 2026 JAMA Network Open study finding that teens spent an average of 70 minutes per school day on their phones --- the equivalent of 30 lost instructional days per year, according to Kim Whitman of Smartphone Free Childhood US. A survey by Rep. Lon Pishny, R-Garden City, found only 40 of 256 Kansas public school districts had enacted bell-to-bell bans, covering roughly 11% of the state's public school students.

But the mandate ran headlong into Kansas' deep-rooted local control tradition. Andrew Gaddis, superintendent of Atchison County Community Schools, argued elected school boards were best suited to set device policy. David Landis, superintendent of Central Christian Academy in Wichita, urged lawmakers to exclude private schools entirely. Rep. Rebecca Schmoe, R-Ottawa, put it bluntly: "Quite frankly, we don't get to tell the private schools what to do. Public rules for public schools." The committee nonetheless rejected private-school exemptions before Brantley's broader amendment prevailed.

The original bill would have required devices to be stored in secure containers — not backpacks or lockers — at an estimated cost of $13.4 million for $30 fabric pouches for 446,000 students, with no state funding provided. Rep. Susan Estes, R-Wichita, added liability protections for schools if stored devices were lost or damaged. Rep. Shawn Chauncey, R-Junction City, won adoption of an amendment banning all two-way communication between district employees and students, including texts and phone calls, unless the employee is the student's parent or guardian. The amended bill now goes to the full House, the Kansas Reflector reported.

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