The Illinois House Education Policy Committee on Wednesday approved an initiative of the governor to ban cell phones in Illinois classrooms.  

Senate Bill 2427 would require all Illinois school districts and charter schools to adopt a policy that limits the use of cellphones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches and smart glasses during class time. 

The bill does include required exceptions, including when a device is medically necessary, part of an individualized education program (IEP) or needed for an English-language learner. Optional exceptions a policy can have are allowing device use if authorized by school personnel for education and in an emergency.  

How the policy is enforced is left largely to each district, whether that be a place where students turn in their phones or place them in locked pouches. The bill states that the policy cannot be enforced through fines, fees or deployment of a school resource officer or local law enforcement. The policy must also be posted publicly on the district’s website.  

“About 72 percent of our high schoolers in particular, identified cell phone distraction as a major problem in their classroom,” said Rep. Michelle Mussman (D-Schaumburg). “So this bill aims to remove that distraction so kids can be more present and available for academic learning, and also help alleviate, hopefully, some of that emotional distress that comes from the constant pinging and concern about what your peers are doing or what they might be saying about you.” 

The measure is an initiative of Gov. JB Pritzker, who proposed it during his annual budget address in February. It passed the Senate unanimously.  

Rep. Diane Blair-Sherlock (D-Villa Park) said she was concerned the legislation would prevent students from calling for help during active shooter situations.  

Mussman said it’s up to the district to create a plan for if phones are allowed during emergency situations, but first-responders have said it’s better when students aren’t all individually calling for help.   

“It creates a lot of chaos that can tie up a lot of lines,” she said. “It can provide conflicting information. School districts think it's better when they are in control of where the students are going to go in an emergency, how the parents are going to be directed to be staged, how they're going to be reunited with each other.”   

Blair-Sherlock said there could be situations where students are hiding and teachers don’t know where they went, presenting an issue if the student can’t be contacted. She was the lone no vote on the bill.  

Rep. Gregg Johnson (D-East Moline) said he was also concerned about active shooter situations but ultimately felt removing the distraction cell phones present outweighed that concern.  

“I'm obviously in support of the bill,” he said. “I can't rest on my doubt and vote no, simply because I'm afraid that I'm not going to get a goodbye call from my daughter inside of school.”  

The measure passed 10-1. If passed by the House, the measure will return to the Senate for a concurrence vote before going to the governor.  

The committee unanimously approved Senate Bill 407, which would reestablish the Chronic Absence Task Force to study chronic absentee rates in the state and suggest policies to improve them.  

The committee also unanimously approved Senate Bill 408. The measure requires districts to keep a summary of performance in a student with an IEP’s permanent record so they can access it after they graduate high school. Rep. Michael Crawford (D-Chicago) said the document is often needed to prove a person’s disability began before they turned 18.  

Senate Bill 191 — which would require school buses purchased after 2031 to have three-point seat belts — also received unanimous approval from the committee.  

Answering questions about additional costs to school districts, Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Highland) said current buses would be grandfathered in and that the three-point seat belt has become more prevalent in newly manufactured buses.  

The measure did receive some opposition in the Senate, with members questioning safety issues with young students who may not be able to undo their seatbelts to evacuate the bus in the case of a crash. SB 191 also does not require students to wear their seatbelts, raising questions about liability if a student is injured while not wearing their seatbelt. The measure ultimately passed the Senate.  

All measures now go to the House floor for a second reading.