California passes school cellphone restrictions

At Dymally High School in South Los Angeles, test scores are slightly up, fights are down and teachers can better focus on instruction—and Principal Darvina Bradley credits her campus cellphone ban. This scene is one California lawmakers are hoping to replicate with their approval of statewide school cellphone restrictions. The Phone-Free Schools Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by Assemblyman Josh Hoover (R-Folsom), sailed through the Legislature and requires all public schools to devise a policy by July 1, 2026, to limit or prohibit smartphones during the school day. It would force distracted, smartphone-obsessed students to do something many haven’t been willing to do on their own: Put their phones away in class. The legislation is expected to be signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who urged educators as the academic year began to enact restrictions, citing the “mental health, scholastic, and social risks” of phone use in classrooms.