Cellphone Ban Heads to Shapiro
Senate Bill 1014, the school cellphone ban we have followed since June, passed the Senate 47 to 3 on Wednesday, Oct. 21, after the House approved it 141 to 62 on Monday, Oct. 19. It requires schools to keep phones away all day, bell to bell, by the 2027-28 school year, with exceptions for medical needs, disability plans, translation, and teacher-led lessons approved by the principal. It covers public, charter, cyber, career and technical, and private schools. Shapiro supports it and has 10 days after it reaches him to sign. Every Monroe County district will need a compliant policy by September 2027.
The timing is hard to miss. Yesterday we reported that roughly 20 percent of East Stroudsburg Area sixth graders are proficient in math, with English scores down in grades 4 through 8, per Monday's school board meeting. The idea behind a phone ban is fewer distractions in class. Whether it moves test scores is the open question, and nothing in those local numbers says phones caused the drop. Our March Deep Dive on reading, "Why Johnny Can't Read," is worth another look: localunfiltered.com/monroe/buzz/2026-03-10.
