The state Senate passed a bill, 46-1, Tuesday that would make public schools across Pennsylvania adopt policies prohibiting students from using cellphones during the school day.
The legislation seeks to limit classroom distractions, improve academic performance and address concerns about youth mental health and social development, according to Senate Republicans.
"Our classrooms should be places for learning, not constant notifications," said state Sen. Devlin Robinson, R-Bridgeville, who co-sponsored the bill. "This bill gives students the freedom to focus, connect with peers, and protect their mental health from the pressures of social media."
The legislation has bipartisan support. A similar bill, co-sponsored by Democratic state Rep. Mandy Steele, of Fox Chapel, has yet to reach the House floor for a vote.
When it does, however, Mr. Shapiro, a Democrat, appears poised to sign the proposal into law. The governor has made recent comments, including this week during his state budget address, stating his support for the legislation.
"Supporting our kids means investing more dollars in our schools and also ensuring they have a healthy, productive learning environment," Mr. Shapiro said in his speech Tuesday. "One way to do that is to get the distraction of cellphones out of their classrooms. I am calling on you to put a bill on my desk to ban cellphones while kids are in school."
The bill passed by the state Senate calls for schools to adopt a so-called bell-to-bell cellphone ban, meaning that students would not be allowed to use devices during school hours.
The Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, Pennsylvania State Education Association and other teachers unions have been supportive of the bell-to-bell policy.
More than 20 states, including nearby Ohio and West Virginia, have banned cellphone usage during the school day.
In Pennsylvania, it's up to schools to decide on cellphone bans, and some have already implemented some sort of ban on electronic devices during the school day.
Pittsburgh Public Schools in December passed a bell-to-bell ban that will go into effect at the beginning of the 2026-27 school year.
The city schools and other districts with bell-to-bell device bans usually include some exceptions in their policies.
The Keystone Oaks School District, just south of the city, has exceptions for health, safety or emergencies, students with special needs and other reasons determined by a building administrator.
While banning cellphones during the entire day seems like a sensible solution, experts say that flexibility is required and schools may want to explore policies with more nuance.
One possibility is approaching cellphone use by age or grade level.
The Upper St. Clair School District at the start of the 2025-26 school year added administrative regulations to it longstanding device policy — dating back to beepers and pagers — that govern cellphone usage by grade.
District students in kindergarten through sixth grade are prohibited from using devices during school hours. Seventh and eighth graders can only use them for extenuating circumstances, such as when a teacher gives a student permission for a specific purpose.
High school students have more freedom and can use devices at appropriate times, such as during lunch and in independent study.
Lauren Madia, director of pupil services for Upper St. Clair, said district staff members and families have appreciated having clear expectations. The district has valued having control over the policy so that it can determine what works best locally, she said.
Ms. Madia noted that items already banned by schools, such as tobacco products and weapons, are highly regulated in the outside world. And there's also the logistical challenge of collecting and redistributing devices when students come to and leave the school at different times of the day for various reasons.
"Asking schools to implement a ban on something that is pretty much unregulated outside of the school I think is putting a lot of onus on schools," she said.
While schools must deal with devices, Ms. Madia said, it's parents who allow their children to have devices in the first place.
"We don't buy students phones, we don't give them phones — their families do," she said. "That's a family-to-family decision, and I think that we respect family choice. So, when families have chosen to provide a phone to their child, we believe that that's done for a reason."
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