Colorado House Bill 25-1135 requires all public and charter school to adopt formal cell phone/electronic devices by July 1, 2026 – how local school districts are complying

 

An assistant principal at Girls Athletic Leadership School, a Denver charter school where cellphones were already prohibited, takes a phone from a student in September 2025  This fall, all Denver students will have to turn off or tun in their phones at school.  Photo credit: Rachel Woolf for Chalkbeat

 

The use of cell phones and other communication devices in schools has been a topic of much debate in recent years.   The State of Colorado has mandated that every charter and public school in the state must adopt a policy concerning the use of these devices by July 1, 2026.  This article includes information about House Bill 25-1135, excerpts from an article by Melanie Asmar, Chalkbeat Colorado, and information about the individual policies of Prowers County-area schools.

 

Communication Devices in Schools

HB25-1135 requires each charter school and local board of education to adopt, implement, and post on its website a policy concerning student communication device possession and use during the school day for the health, safety, and welfare of students by July 1, 2026. This legislation does not apply, provided that the school or board adopted and implements a policy on the possession and use of communication devices or cell phones on or before August 31, 2025.

This webpage supports the bill’s requirement for the CDE to provide a collection of accessible resources and research that may assist in the development of policies that support the bill by January 5, 2026.

• The goal is to reduce distractions and cyberbullying while promoting student focus, safety, and well-being.
• By July 1, 2026, all Colorado public and charter schools must adopt and implement a policy governing student cell phone and device use during the school day and publish the policy online.
• Policies must outline when students can possess or use devices, with exceptions for disability accommodations, medical needs, and emergencies.
• Schools are encouraged to consider age-appropriate rules, instructional use, staff training, and public feedback.
• This legislation does not apply to the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind, any charter school, or any local board of education, provided that the school or board adopts and implements a policy on the possession and use of communication devices or cell phones on or before August 31, 2025.

 

No  more scrolling at lunch: Officials from 3 Colorado school districts discuss their cellphone bans

Photo Credit: Rachel Cohen/KUNC – Students at Doherty High School in Colorado Springs show their IDs and their phones inside Yondr pouches to security guard Lonny Barrett. The school district started a new policy last year banning cell phones for middle and high schoolers.

KUNC | By Melanie Asmar, Chalkbeat Colorado:

Before a ban on cellphones, Jill Haffley said her classroom “was like Vegas.” “The cellphones were lighting up all the time,” said Haffley, who was a teacher for 30 years before being elected to the Colorado Springs School District 11 school board. Weary of the distractions, Haffley ran for office in 2023 on a platform of banning cellphones, and the 23,000-student District 11 did it starting in the fall of 2024.

Haffley said that if you ask a group of students what it’s been like to go phone-free, they’ll say they don’t like it. “But you get them individually and one girl told me, “Thank you for this. I can breathe again. I don’t have  o continue to look at my phone every time I get a notification and I can blame it on you,”” Haffley said. “Our job is to educate these kids and we can’t educate them when their minds are constantly on their cellphones.”

Haffley was one of four school board members and superintendents who spoke to the Colorado State Board of Education Wednesday about their experience with cellphone bans. Under state law, all 179 Colorado school districts must adopt a cellphone use policy by July 1. That policy doesn’t have to be a prohibition, but many districts are moving in that direction. The state’s largest district, Denver Public Schools, adopted a bell-to-bell ban this week.

Panelists said adults were as much to blame for cellphone distractions as kids. Parents would send their teenagers cute emojis or “thinking of you” texts during class, Haffley said. That was sweet — but also frustrating if 35 students’ phones were dinging during a lesson, she said. Haffley said a mother relayed that her anxiety would go “through the roof” if she couldn’t get ahold of her sophomore whenever she wanted.

Parents were especially worried about contacting their children during a school shooting or other emergencies, the panelists said. The superintendents said they understand that fear but there are safer ways of receiving emergency notifications and less distracting ways of relaying messages.

Brian Hill, the superintendent of Mesa County Valley District said students told him their parents were sending them TikTok videos of cats and their athletic coaches were texting them about practices. “Without trying to sound like a jerk, we have landlines in all of our schools,” Hill said. “You can call the front office if it’s an emergency and you can get a message through to your kiddo.”

The districts varied in how they made their decisions to ban cellphones and how they explained the reasoning to families. Aspen School District Superintendent Tharyn Mulberry said his district gathered feedback from the community. Unsurprisingly, it was mixed. He decided it was important not to belabor the process “Spending too much time collecting the data and doing community outreach is probably not as necessary as you think,” he said, noting that districts can always change their policies later.

District 51 is doing just that. The district’s policy it adopted in 2024 allowed high school students to use their cellphones when they weren’t in class. But this fall, District 51 will switch to a bell-to-bell ban for all grades. Hill said he’s only gotten one upset email. “This notion that everyone is going to start bombarding your email inbox when you implement it — I haven’t seen it,” he said.

Not that making a cellphone ban work is easy. All four panelists said students will find creative ways around any ban. At schools that require students to lock their cellphones in pouches, teenagers will lock up dummy burner phones or even phones made out of Legos instead, the panelists said. They’ll hide wireless earbuds under their hair or wear knit caps with earphones built in. Haffley said her nephew told her he could buy a $3 magnet on Amazon that would unlock the pouch that his school uses. She told him he could spend that $3 if he wanted, but if he got caught, the district’s policy would require his mother to come to the school to pick up his confiscated phone.

Consistent enforcement is key, the superintendents said. And the longer the bans are in place, they said, the more a school’s culture shifts from scrolling at lunch to talking at lunch. “We went back into the cafeterias, we went back into the hallways, we went back into the gymnasiums, and you know what we heard?” Mulberry said. “Noise.”

Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org.

Prowers-area local school policies

Lamar RE-2 Policy in handbooks:

“The Board of Education recognizes the importance of communication and collaboration, and provides devices for students to be productive in the classroom.  To keep the focus on academics, to reduce unnecessary distractions, and to protect students from other’s misuse of cell phones and other personal technology devices (PTDs, the district enforces the following: Cell phones and other PTDs will be confiscated if seen or heard. The district will not be responsible for any lost or stolen devices. If a student needs to make a phone call during the, he or she is required to do so from a school phone.

For the purposes of this policy, “personal technology device” or “device” includes any privately-owned portable technology device, including but not limited to cell phones, tablets, laptops, cameras, audio/or video recorders or players, headphones and speakers, and all other hand-held electronic communications and data storage devices. The superintendent and/or principal may grant temporary access to cell phones or PTDs at their discretion.  Under this provision, at LHS, appropriate cell phone use will be allowed during the lunch period, but it must be turned off and put away during class time and passing periods. If the building principal or designee believes a student’s possession or use of a PTD may involve a violation of the law, the building principal or designee may also refer the matter to law enforcement.

Consequences:
First Offense:  PTD will be confiscated for the remainder of the school day and the student will have a conference with school administration, with notice made to parent or guardian.

Second Offense:  PTD will be confiscated for the remainder of the school day and the student will be given a Disciplinary Referral and placed in in-school suspension for 3 days.

Third and Fourth Offense:  PTD will be confiscated and the student will be given a Disciplinary Referral and suspended out of school for 3 days.

Fifth Offense: Same as 3 and 4 and a behavior plan will be instituted explaining that next offense may be grounds for expulsion.

Sixth Offense: Out of school suspension for 5 days.  Superintendent will be notified and an expulsion hearing will be conducted.

 

Wiley School District Policy in handbooks:

Students may check phones between classes, but phones must remain off during instructional time unless granted permission by the teacher.  If a parent or guardian needs to call the student, they need to call the school office. Headphones, earbuds and other electronic equipment are not permitted in the classroom unless requested by the teacher for academic reasons.  Earbuds/heaphones not allowed between periods. It teacher allows during a class, they must be removed before entering the hallway. If used in the classroom, during breakfast or during lunch, only one earpiece may be utilized at one time.

 

McClave School District Policy in handbooks:

Cell phones and PTDs are permitted ONLY during breakfast and lunch. Students are responsible for turning in their phones at the beginning of each class period to the teacher. All other PTDs are not permitted during school hours, including but not limited to, smart watches and earbuds/headphones.

Cell phones and PTDs will be confiscated if seen or heard during class or passing periods. The school is not responsible for lost or stolen devices. If students need to make a phone call during the day, he or she is required to do so from a school phone. The Superintendent and/or principal may grant temporary access at their discretion.  Teachers may grant temporary access at their discretion with notification of administration.

Violations:

First – Confiscated till the end of school day.

Second – A parent or guardian must pick up device plus a lunch detention for students. School is not liable for lost, stolen, or damaged devices.

Third and successive: Devices will be taken to the office and not allowed at school the remainder of the school year.  Phones brought to school after third offense will be checked into the school office each morning.  Student will attend Friday School – in-school or out-of-school suspension at the administrator’s discretion.

 

Granada School District Policy in handbooks:

Cell phones are not allowed at Granada Schools during school hours.  Students caught with cell phones during school hours are met with following consequences:

First offense: Cell phone will be confiscated for two weeks and parents will be notified.

Second offense: Student will receive a three day out of school suspension and the phone will be confiscated for the remainder of the school year.

Consequences for additional offenses will be determined by the administration but will require the student and parent/guardian to appear before the Board of Education. Students will also miss any extra-curricular activities that take place during the first, second, or additional offenses.

 

Holly School District:

We were unable to locate any information online about the District’s cell phone/PTD policy.  The District’s website said to call the school for any information about policies which we were unable to do because of press time constraints for this article.

 

By: Barbara Crimond