{"id":3142,"date":"2026-07-02T13:04:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T13:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=3142"},"modified":"2026-07-02T13:04:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T13:04:18","slug":"states-biggest-school-districts-pass-cellphone-policies-ahead-of-state-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=3142","title":{"rendered":"State\u2019s biggest school districts pass cellphone policies ahead of state deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>DENVER<\/strong> | Nearly all of Colorado\u2019s 20 largest school districts have adopted restrictions on cellphones before a state deadline Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>A state law passed last year required districts to pass cellphone policies by July 1, although it did not mandate that districts ban phones.<\/p>\n<p>Five of the 20 largest districts adopted a bell-to-bell cellphone ban for all grades, meaning no cellphones from the first bell to the last bell. Eleven took a hybrid approach, prohibiting younger students from using phones throughout the school day, while allowing high school students to use them during lunch, passing periods, or when teachers permit it for certain class activities.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p><strong>READ: HOW AURORA\u2019S TWO SCHOOL DISTRICTS HANDLE CELL PHONE RESTRICTIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Three districts banned cellphone use during instructional time for all grades. And finally, one district\u2019s policy says each school can create its own cellphone rules.<\/p>\n<p>More schools nationwide are banning cellphones in an effort to reduce distractions in class and improve students\u2019 mental health. But some students and parents have pushed back, arguing that cellphones are needed to coordinate pickups from school and in case of emergencies.<\/p>\n<p>Many of the 20 districts\u2019 policies are relatively new. Before last year\u2019s law, six of the 20 districts had no cellphone policy at all, according to a Chalkbeat tally. Others did, but some of them have been replaced since the law went into effect.<\/p>\n<p>Those advocating for a bell-to-bell ban cited studies that linked cellphone and social media use to poorer mental health in children, classroom distractions, and addictive behavior.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are trying to give something back to kids,\u201d Marlene De La Rosa, a Denver Public Schools board member, said during a debate about cellphone policy this spring. \u201cWe want to give them back some socialization skills. We want to give them back some better attention, more focus, more time to sleep at night instead of being on the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Officials who advocated for a hybrid approach said some high school students have adult responsibilities that require access to their phones, such as after-school jobs or caring for younger siblings. Others noted that some students rely on their phones to do schoolwork.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I was in school, if I didn\u2019t have access to a computer, my cellphone was my computer,\u201d Aurora Public schools board member Tiffany Tasker said.<\/p>\n<p>District leaders also debated how to enforce the bans, including whether students should lock away their phones or keep them in their pockets or backpacks. One common argument for allowing students to hold onto their phones revolved around school safety.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGod forbid if something were to happen \u2026 families want to be able to have their kid send that text: \u2018I\u2019m OK Mom,\u2019\u201d Pueblo School District 60 Superintendent Barbara Kimzey said.<\/p>\n<p><em>Melanie Asmar is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Colorado. Contact Melanie at masmar@chalkbeat.org. Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.<\/em>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=3137\">Some ransom notes sent in Nancy Guthrie case still being investigated as legitimate, FBI says<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=3139\">Russia waged a drone campaign in Europe and likely launched drones from shadow ships, report says<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=3141\">An AP journalist describes a month in the epicenter of Congo\u2019s Ebola outbreak<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. DENVER | Nearly all of Colorado\u2019s 20 largest school districts have adopted restrictions on cellphones before a state deadline Wednesday. A state law passed last year required districts to pass cellphone policies by July 1, although it did not mandate that districts ban phones. Five of the 20 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[526,1001,5071,5072],"class_list":["post-3142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metro","tag-aurora-public-schools","tag-cell-phones","tag-denver-public-schools","tag-state-law"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>State\u2019s biggest school districts pass cellphone policies ahead of state deadline - Denver Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=3142\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"State\u2019s biggest school districts pass cellphone policies ahead of state deadline - Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. DENVER | Nearly all of Colorado\u2019s 20 largest school districts have adopted restrictions on cellphones before a state deadline Wednesday. A state law passed last year required districts to pass cellphone policies by July 1, although it did not mandate that districts ban phones. Five of the 20 [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=3142\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-02T13:04:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=3142#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=3142\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b\"},\"headline\":\"State\u2019s biggest school districts pass cellphone policies ahead of state deadline\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-02T13:04:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=3142\"},\"wordCount\":546,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=3142#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/db080b473bd4fbf33b74c3af2e7f0f66.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"Aurora Public Schools\",\"cell phones\",\"Denver Public Schools\",\"state law\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Metro\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=3142#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=3142\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=3142\",\"name\":\"State\u2019s biggest school districts pass cellphone policies ahead of state deadline - Denver Moving Chronicle\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=3142#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=3142#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/db080b473bd4fbf33b74c3af2e7f0f66.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-02T13:04:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=3142#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=3142\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=3142#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/db080b473bd4fbf33b74c3af2e7f0f66.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/db080b473bd4fbf33b74c3af2e7f0f66.jpeg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":854,\"caption\":\"Anthony Bruno, a student at the Washington Junior High School, uses the unlocking mechanism as he leaves classes for the day to open the bag that his cell phone was sealed in during the school day, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022, in Washington, Pa. Citing mental health, behavior and engagement as the impetus, many educators are updating cellphone policies, with a number turning to magnetically sealing pouches. 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