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Barring smartphones in class? Kentucky lawmakers have re-filed a bill that would mandate the policy with some exceptions

A sign is shown over a phone holder in a classroom at Delta High School, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, in Delta, Utah. At the rural Utah school, there is a strict policy requiring students to check their phones at the door when entering every class. Each classroom has a cellphone storage unit that looks like an over-the-door shoe bag with three dozen smartphone-sized slots. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Rick Bowmer/AP
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AP
A sign is shown over a phone holder in a classroom at Delta High School, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, in Delta, Utah. At the rural Utah school, there is a strict policy requiring students to check their phones at the door when entering every class. Each classroom has a cellphone storage unit that looks like an over-the-door shoe bag with three dozen smartphone-sized slots. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Kentucky lawmakers are reviving a bill that would prohibit smartphones and other communications devices from classrooms in the commonwealth.

Under the proposal, Kentucky school districts would be required to craft policies eliminating phones from classrooms during the school day, with some exclusions for emergencies and teacher-directed assignments.

A similar bill won approval in a House committee in 2024, but did not reach the chamber floor. Like that measure, this year's bill would not specify how the policy should be enforced. Rep. Josh Bray explaining his reasoning behind that decision during last year's session.

"School systems already have disciplinary policies that follow this. So I didn't think it was important to put in there 'shall be confiscated' or something like that because those are decisions are best made at the local level," he said.

According to Education Week, a growing number of education leaders and policy makers across the nation are testing out new cell phone restrictions in schools, arguing the devices are a distraction and the bans would "benefit students' mental health and learning."

Some parents have pushed back, saying they worry about access to communication with their children. At least 19 states have adopted laws or policies that ban or restrict smartphone use in schools statewide or recommend similar actions at a local level.

Josh James fell in love with college radio at Western Kentucky University's student station, New Rock 92 (now Revolution 91.7). After working as a DJ and program director, he knew he wanted to come home to Lexington and try his hand in public radio.