STAND. COM. REP. NO. 581

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: H.B. No. 1343

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 1343 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require the Board of Education to adopt a policy that bans the use of phones and related devices by students during school hours.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaiʻi State Teachers Association and numerous individuals. Your Committee received testimony in support of the intent of this measure from the Board of Education. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that cellphone use in schools can be detrimental to student achievement and wellbeing. Research has shown that allowing cellphones in the classroom affects student focus and engagement, leading to decreased academic performance on tests and adversely impacting students' long-term learning retention.

Your Committee further finds that there is a growing number of states that are banning or restricting cellphone use in schools, with at least nineteen states having passed laws or enacted policies that ban or restrict students' use of cellphones in schools statewide or recommending that local districts enact bans or restrictive policies. Your Committee believes that banning the use of cellphones and related devices, including smart watches, earbuds, AirPods, Bluetooth connected headphones, and smart glasses, by students in schools will increase student productivity and improve academic achievement.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Amending the preamble to:

(A) Declare that the banning of cell phones and related devices by students during school hours is a matter of statewide concern; and

(B) Include smart glasses in the list of devices that would be considered to be banned under a Board of Education policy;

(2) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000; and

(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1343, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1343, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

____________________________

JUSTIN H. WOODSON, Chair