In a 135-1 vote, the Maryland House of Delegates on Monday passed a bill requiring public schools statewide to sharply limit student use of personal electronic devices during the school day, as lawmakers debated how such restrictions would be enforced in practice. The Maryland Phone-Free Schools Act, or House Bill 525, would require every local board of education to adopt policies by the ...

Eric Ebersole is a Baltimore County Democrat who chairs the K-12 Education Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee.

Barbara Haddock Taylor/Baltimore Sun/TNS

In a 135-1 vote, the Maryland House of Delegates on Monday passed a bill requiring public schools statewide to sharply limit student use of personal electronic devices during the school day, as lawmakers debated how such restrictions would be enforced in practice.

The Maryland Phone-Free Schools Act, or House Bill 525, would require every local board of education to adopt policies by the 2027-’28 school year restricting students’ use of cellphones, laptops, smart watches and other devices, while also banning access to social media during school hours.

Under the bill, students would be required to put away personal devices for the duration of the school day — including class time, passing periods, lunch and recess. Exceptions would be allowed for school-issued devices, individualized education programs, health needs, emergencies, or when administrators permit use for specific instructional purposes.

During Monday’s floor debate, one lawmaker raised concerns about how the policy would be enforced. Del. Christopher Adams, an Eastern Shore Republican who ultimately voted in support of the bill, questioned how it would play out in schools.

Del. Eric Ebersole, a Baltimore County Democrat who chairs the K-12 Education Subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee, said the measure would be handled like any other classroom disruption, with teachers addressing initial violations and administrators stepping in if issues escalate.

“This will be handled like any other disciplinary thing. If a student had a magazine out, that was disrupting instruction, or a fidget spinner that was disrupting instruction, the teacher could try to take it away from them,” Ebersole said, adding that this is his reason for voting in favor of the bill despite his early skepticism. He initially hesitated to vote for the measure before subcommittee deliberations.

The bill, sponsored by Del. Adrian Boafo, advanced with broad support earlier in the process, passing unanimously out of both the subcommittee and the full Ways and Means Committee on Friday. Del. Robin Grammer cast the lone opposing vote on the House Floor and did not respond to The Baltimore Sun’s requests for a comment explaining his vote.

Delegates in committee loosened the bill’s requirements around how devices must be stored, leaving that decision to local school systems after some concerns were raised during last week’s subcommittee deliberations about the logistics of collecting and redistributing thousands of phones in large schools.

Students also could not be suspended or expelled solely for violating the policy under the legislation, and disciplinary consequences would be left to local school systems.

The proposal has drawn mixed reactions from education officials, with some local school boards raising concerns about a statewide mandate overriding locally developed policies, while teachers’ groups have backed the measure as a way to create more consistent and enforceable rules across classrooms.

The measure is among more than 50 education bills to pass out of the House chamber ahead of the General Assembly’s crossover deadline. The House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees education policy and funding legislation, has flagged at least 125 bills as education-related this session.

As of late 2024, 19 Maryland school systems had recently updated cellphone policies, and five more were in the process of doing so, according to the Maryland Department of Legislative Services. As of March 2026, 27 states have adopted “bell to bell” restrictions similar to those proposed in Maryland, according to Education Week.

A companion measure has already passed the Maryland Senate. Because the bills are identical, the legislation is expected to clear both chambers and head to Gov. Wes Moore for his signature.

_____