An act to amend Section 48901.7 of the Education Code, relating to pupil safety.
Summary
AB 962 amends Education Code Section 48901.7, which governs school district, county office of education, and charter school policies on student smartphone use during school hours and while students are under school supervision. The bill keeps the existing requirement that schools adopt a policy to limit or prohibit smartphone use by July 1, 2026, and update it every five years, with stakeholder participation and a goal of supporting pupil learning and well-being.
The main change is to the emergency exception. Under prior law, students could not be prohibited from using or possessing a smartphone in an emergency or when responding to a perceived threat of danger. AB 962 instead allows a school to prohibit smartphone use in those situations only if that circumstance is explicitly addressed in the school’s comprehensive school safety plan. The bill also preserves other exceptions for teacher or administrator permission, medical necessity, and individualized education programs, and it continues to bar schools from monitoring or accessing students’ online activity through this section.
Impact
The bill narrows and conditions the emergency-related smartphone exception in the state’s school cellphone policy law. It ties local authority to restrict smartphone use during emergencies or perceived threats to the contents of a comprehensive school safety plan under Section 32282, thereby integrating smartphone rules with broader school safety planning. The measure affects public school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools, but it does not create a state reimbursement requirement or a new fiscal program.
Sentiment
The available voting record shows strong and unanimous support throughout the legislative process, with no recorded dissent in committee or on the floor. The bill moved through consent calendar and concurrence votes with broad bipartisan approval, suggesting the proposal was viewed as a modest clarification to existing school smartphone policy rather than a controversial overhaul. The absence of committee transcript material limits insight into detailed debate, but the vote pattern indicates general agreement around the bill’s approach to pupil safety and local planning.
Contention
The central policy issue is how much flexibility schools should have to restrict smartphone use during emergencies. Supporters appear to favor allowing local school safety plans to determine when emergency communications should be limited, while the existing law’s default exception protects student access to phones in urgent situations. The bill resolves that tension by making the exception contingent on explicit inclusion in a comprehensive school safety plan. Other potential concerns, such as student health, disability accommodations, and privacy, are addressed by preserving exceptions for medical necessity and IEP requirements and by retaining the prohibition on monitoring online activity.
An act to amend Sections 44671 and 49600 of, and to add Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 52210) to Part 28 of Division 4 of Title 2 of, the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction.