By: Michael Achterling (North Dakota Monitor)
Gov. Kelly Armstrong showed up at two committee hearings and held a press conference Wednesday to advocate for eliminating student cellphone use in North Dakota public schools.
Identical amendments replacing most of the bill text were presented to both the Senate and House Education Committees during hearings on Senate Bill 2354 and House Bill 1160, both of which attempt to address student cellphone use during the school day.
“Bringing a substantial policy change like this after crossover as an amendment is not something we take lightly,” Armstrong said during a media availability following the hearings. “We need to get cell phones out of schools.”
Armstrong said it could be the most impactful thing lawmakers do during a legislative session for the mental health and well-being of students even with a large focus on property tax relief.
“This is absolutely something we can do to help teachers, to help school systems and to help students,” he said. “This will help the next generation of North Dakota leaders be better leaders. It’ll help them physically. It’ll help them emotionally, and it’ll help them academically.”
The bill would prohibit student cellphone use from “bell-to-bell,” including class time and unstructured time in between classes for the entire school day. It would cover cellphones, bluetooth-enabled devices, smart watches and other wearable devices capable of voice, text and other data transfers between students.
Students must turn off their devices and store them in a locked, secure area during school hours.
School districts would also have the ability to limit cellphone use during school-related activities, such as bus rides, field trips and after-school activities.
Students would be able to contact a parent or caregiver by using a school phone.
The bill also includes exemptions to the policy for those with medical conditions that require the use of a device to monitor a condition, and students under individual education or rehabilitation plans.
Private school students would not be subject to the law.
Lt. Gov. Michelle Strinden testified in favor of the bill, saying she wants to give North Dakota students the ability to learn and grow without the mental health challenges and distractions that smartphones provide.
“We need a course correction, and we need it now,” Strinden said. “Senate Bill 2354, as amended, is an urgent policy, and we can’t wait two years to debate the need for it.”
She added young girls are struggling with self-image and confidence issues, which is why eliminating phone usage during the school day is necessary — to grant a temporary reprieve for those kids.
Sen. Michelle Axtman, R-Bismarck, presented the amendment to the House Education Committee. She said she mentioned the phone-free schools bill to members of the girls golf team that she coaches, and one of the students said they would be bored without their phone.
“I said, ‘Thank you so much. That is why I’m doing it,’” Axtman said. “I’m hoping that instead of being bored they turn their attention to each other and their class work.”
Jeff Fastnacht, superintendent of Bismarck Public Schools, told lawmakers that his district would be able to implement the policy if it was signed into law during the 2025-26 school year.
Armstrong said up to $1.5 million could be attached to the bill as an appropriation to reimburse school districts for lockable devices to store phones during the school day.
Both the Senate and House Education Committees took no immediate action on the legislation.
