In an era of partisan division, at least one thing brings New Hampshire politicians together in opposition:
Kids with cell phones.
On Wednesday, the House Education Policy and Administration voted 16-1 to advance HB 781, which would “require school districts to adopt policies establishing a cell phone-free education.”
The lone holdout was state Rep. Steven Woodcock (D- Conway).
“I agree with the need for a policy. But the more I look at the restrictions, I’m concerned we are telling schools what the policy will be,” Woodcock said.
He argued the bill is an overreach, and likened it to lawmakers dictating school district curriculum.
“My concern isn’t the policy. We need a policy. I still don’t think it’s our right to delegate specifically what’s in that, similar to local curriculum,” Woodcock said.
State Rep. Peggy Balboni (D-Rye Beach), a former teacher and school board member, disagreed.
“I would like to see it even a little bit stricter because, having done lunch duty, I’m concerned with watching whole tables of students on their phones and not talking to each other, and that just bothered me a lot,” she said. “I’d like them to have to talk to each other.”
Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte used her first press conference after taking office to call on lawmakers to quickly put together a bill regulating students’ use of cell phones and other electronic gadgets during school hours so she can sign it into law ahead of the next school year.
“Screens are negatively impacting our learning environments, drawing students’ attention away from their classes, and becoming a barrier for teachers to do their jobs,” Ayotte said at the time. “No more.”
Lawmakers have stopped short of pushing for a “bell-to-bell” ban, opting instead to grant flexibility to Granite State school districts.
State Rep. Muriel Hall (D-Bow) said the current amended House proposal gives districts “a lot of options.”
“It doesn’t say bell-to-bell,” Hall said. “I think we heard a lot of talk about bell-to-bell. This basically says you have to make exceptions for their needs and during classroom instruction.
“It says personal devices. I think it does give a lot of leeway.”
The amended version was drafted and introduced by state Rep. Paul Terry (R-Alton) and would go into effect ahead of the 2025-2026 school year.
“I think this is sometimes referred to as sausage-making,” Terry told fellow committee members. “I have made sausage in less time than it took to deal with the four sentences in the original HB 781, but I did find it to be a very productive, collegial discussion.”
State Rep. Kristin Noble (R-Goffstown) also disagreed with Woodcock’s concerns about overreach.
“I think what we heard out of the (public) hearing is they (local school districts) don’t really want local control,” she said. “They’re looking for the state to hand down the mandate to make it easier for them to put these policies in place, so that it’s not a fight with parents and kids.”
If the bill becomes law, New Hampshire would join eight other states that approved student cell phone restrictions in 2024. The Granite State is currently one of nine states considering legislation in 2025.
HB 781 also calls for making an annual general fund appropriation of $250,000 to assist school districts in purchasing equipment used to safely and securely store cell phones while class is in session.
“While implementation costs for school districts are unknown, it is assumed the Department (of Education) would receive reimbursement requests up to the $250,000 appropriation and would make payments in FY 2026,” the bill’s methodology section explains. “The Department states it would need one (1) new seasonal temporary program specialist III position, at an estimated cost of $102,000 in FY 2026, to process reimbursement requests and distribute payments.”
“This bill does not provide authorization for new personnel.”
