Communication Devices in Schools

Added a new requirement that school policies must not prohibit students from possessing and using communication devices during the school day when such possession and use are necessary for effective communication.

Definition of 'communication device' was modified to exclude devices made available by the school or used as required by the school.

Added specific sponsors to the bill, expanding the coalition of supporters.

Policy requirements were clarified to ensure exceptions exist for devices provided by or required by the school.

Updated reading dates and committee assignments to reflect legislative progress.

Document format changed from final act signatures page to pre-amended draft with committee amendment indicators

Removed final act notice about Governor signatures and legislative status

Added bill summary and amendment notation instructions for draft version

Reorganized sponsor listings and committee information layout

Added a note indicating the bill is prepared for signatures and directing readers to check legislative status for Governor action.

Reorganized the bill header to place the bill title and sponsor list in different positions compared to the signed version.

Adjusted capitalization and formatting of section headers and subsection labels throughout the document.

Added new co-sponsors to the House and Senate sponsorship sections

Updated bill title and sponsorship information to reflect additional legislators

Removed bill summary and formatting notes that were present in the original version

Added five new sponsors to the House sponsorship list: Bacon, Brown, Camacho, Duran, English, Hamrick, Lindsay, Mauro, McCluskie, McCormick, Rutinel, Story, and Valdez.

Updated the header from 'ENGROSSED' to 'REENGROSSED' and changed the amendment adoption description from 'Second Reading in the House of Introduction' to 'Adopted in the House of Introduction'.

Removed detailed provisions regarding student communication device possession and use during the school day, including emergency considerations and age-specific prohibitions for elementary, middle, and high school students.

Added a January 5, 2026 deadline for the Department of Education to publish accessible resources and research to assist schools in developing device policies.

Reorganized policy requirements into two distinct subsections: one for possession prohibitions and one for use prohibitions, with corresponding exceptions for each.

Added a new subsection requiring policies to consider exceptions that allow device use for instructional purposes or to make Safe2Tell reports.

Clarified that 'communication device' does not include devices made available by the school or district.