This legislation requires all public schools in California to develop and implement policies restricting student cell phone use during school hours — unless they are needed for individualized instruction, medical necessity or an emergency situation.

Another potential benefit to students having cell phones on their person in school buses is they can call their parents or dial 911 during emergency situations, as illustrated again recently with the fatal Appalachee High School shooting in Georgia. According to Care.com, parents and students feel safer when they have their cell phones at hand.

We compared our current policy, which restricts cell phones during instructional time, versus the possibility of whether or not we need to do more,” said USD 259 school board president Stan Reeser. “There was a state task force on cell phones which dove into a little more than what our policy deals with.