89R3512 AMF-D
By: Bell of Montgomery H.B. No. 1258
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to public school policies regarding student possession of
personal communication devices; authorizing a fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as the Smart Students Not
Devices Act.
SECTION 2. Section 37.082, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 37.082. POSSESSION OF PERSONAL COMMUNICATION [PAGING]
DEVICES. (a) Subject to Subsection (d), the [The] board of
trustees of a school district or the governing body of an
open-enrollment charter school shall [may] adopt a policy
prohibiting a student from possessing a personal communication
[paging] device while on school property during the school day [or
while attending a school-sponsored or school-related activity on or
off school property]. The policy may establish disciplinary
measures to be imposed for violation of the prohibition and may
provide for confiscation of the [paging] device.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (d), the [The] policy
shall [may provide for the district to]:
(1) require a student who brings a personal
communication device on school property to turn the device off and
store the device in a designated storage locker for the duration of
the school day including, as applicable, during lunch, recess,
passing periods, or free periods; and
(2) provide for the confiscation and secure storage of
a personal communication device of a student who does not comply
with the requirement of Subdivision (1) while the student is on
school property during the school day and the return of the device
to the student's parent or guardian at the conclusion of the school
day.
(c) The policy may provide for the district or school to
[dispose of a confiscated paging device in any reasonable manner
after having provided the student's parent and the company whose
name and address or telephone number appear on the device 30 days'
prior notice of its intent to dispose of that device. The notice
shall include the serial number of the device and may be made by
telephone, telegraph, or in writing; and
[(2)] charge the [owner of the device or the] student's
parent or guardian an administrative fee not to exceed $15 before
the district or school [it] releases a confiscated personal
communication [the] device.
(d) In adopting the policy, the board of trustees or
governing body must authorize the possession of a personal
communication device:
(1) necessary to implement an individualized
education program, a plan created under Section 504, Rehabilitation
Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Section 794), or a similar program or plan;
(2) by a student with a documented need based on a
directive from the student's physician; or
(3) necessary to comply with a requirement imposed by
law.
(e) A school district or open-enrollment charter school is
not liable for damage to or loss or theft of a personal
communication device confiscated under a policy under this section.
(f) [(c)] In this section, "personal communication [paging]
device" means a telephone, cell phone such as a smartphone or flip
phone, tablet, smartwatch, wearable health tracker, radio device,
set of earbuds or headphones, paging device, handheld video game
console, or any other electronic [telecommunications] device
capable of telecommunication or digital communication [that emits
an audible signal, vibrates, displays a message, or otherwise
summons or delivers a communication to the possessor]. The term
does not include:
(1) an amateur radio under the control of an operator
who holds an amateur radio station license issued by the Federal
Communications Commission; or
(2) an electronic device provided to a student by a
school district or open-enrollment charter school.
SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2025-2026
school year.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2025.