Wisconsin became the 36th state last year to implement a limit on cell phones in schools. Wisconsin Act 42, signed in 2025, requires school districts to implement policies that ban cellphones during instructional times starting in July 2026. The policies have to include exceptions for emergencies, for educational purposes and cases involving student health care, individualized education plans (IEPs) or learning environment accommodations, also known as 504 plans.
When Evers signed the law in October, he said he had a hard time deciding whether to do so because he believes in local control and wished lawmakers had taken a different approach. Nevertheless, he said he signed the bill because he was “deeply concerned” about the effect cell phones and social media are having on students.
Last week, however, Evers said he hasn’t made up his mind about the bill that would go a step further.
“That’s tough. We already, you know, did something,” Evers told reporters last week when asked if he would sign the new measure. He said it could put the state in the position of telling districts to do something that not all of them may want to do. “I have to think through that,” he added. “I’m concerned about that.”
Wisconsin school districts can already choose to implement a bell-to-bell ban under current law, but AB 948 would require policies banning cell phone use in school — prohibiting them throughout the school day, including during class time, recess, the time between classes and the lunch period. The bill requires the policies to be implemented by July 1, 2027.
Prior to Act 42, most Wisconsin school districts had already restricted student cellphone use, though policies and enforcement varied widely across the state.
Currently 38 states limit student phone use in schools, including 18 with bans for the entire day.
The state Assembly passed the “bell-to-bell” ban bill in February on a voice vote. It needs to pass the state Senate before it would go to Evers.
At a Senate Education committee meeting Tuesday, Reps. Lindee Brill (R-Sheboygan Falls) and Joel Kitchens (R-Sturgeon Bay) said the bill would do more to ensure support for students and educators.
“This isn’t something that we’re doing to schools because we don’t think they’re doing a good job,” Kitchens said. “This is something we’re helping them with. I think everyone that has looked at this at all recognizes that this is the way to go and we are backing them up.”
Brill said she has heard support from school superintendents and teachers.
Evers is not the only person with concerns about further limiting school districts from making these decisions. According to the Wisconsin Ethics Commission lobbying website, several school organizations are registered against the bill, including the Wisconsin Association of School Boards, the Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials, the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators and the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators.
In written testimony provided when the Assembly heard the bill, Peshtigo School District Superintendent Patrick Rau said that he opposes the bill because it removes local flexibility.
Rau noted that in a recent incident at his district, a student was able to quickly report a threat on campus during a blood drive using her phone. Police arrested a man who was carrying a loaded handgun, a magazine concealed inside his shirt and two knives, and who later assaulted officers.
“This was a situation that could have become every parent’s and educator’s worst nightmare,” Rau said. The bill would enforce “a one-size-fits-all requirement that does not reflect the real-world conditions schools face each day.”
Brill said that there is an issue with phone addiction in schools, and access to social media is affecting students’ mental health.
“They’re being lost in depression. They’re being lost in keeping up with unrealistic expectations,” Brill said. “We have to do what we can to support the future generation.”
Kitchens, who authored the first cell phone ban bill, said that views on cell phone bans in schools have been changing since the earlier one was discussed.
“I got a lot of pushback just for that one,” Kitchens said, “but I think in that year since that came out, the public has become so much more aware.”
A 2025 Marquette Law School poll found that 72% of Wisconsinites strongly or somewhat support a ban on using cell phones during the entire school day.
Kitchens noted that there is reporting from across the country where students get used to and appreciate the ban once it is implemented. The ban in New York has encouraged students to turn to using portable CD players and MP3 players while in school.
“The schools that have gone ‘bell-to-bell — and you see it across the country — the reports have overwhelmingly been positive from the kids. After they get past that first week of withdrawal, they appreciate having it,” Kitchens said. “It doesn’t solve the whole problem, but they have a safe space during the day where they can concentrate on what they should be concentrating on.”
