Welcome to Hall Pass, a newsletter written to keep you plugged into the conversations driving school board governance, the politics surrounding it, and education policy.
In today’s edition, you’ll find:
- On the issues: The debate over policy responses to school shootings
- In your district: Top challenges in 2025
- School board filing deadlines, election results, and recall certifications
- Seven states ban or limit cellphones in K-12 public schools—and more could follow in 2025
- Extracurricular: education news and numbers from around the web
- Candidate Connection survey
Reply to this email to share reactions or story ideas!
On the issues: The debate over policy responses to school shootings
In this section, we curate reporting, analysis, and commentary on the issues school board members deliberate when they set out to offer the best education possible in their district. Missed an issue? Click here to see the previous education debates we’ve covered.
What’s the background?
Today, we’ll look at perspectives on possible policy responses to the Jan. 22 school shooting at Antioch High School in Nashville, Tennessee. The shooter, a 17-year-old, killed one student and injured another. The shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot.
What are the arguments?
Andrea Williams writes that gun control measures wouldn’t solve the underlying problem of mentally unstable kids. Williams says students who want to kill will find a way with or without guns. She says measures should focus on supporting students’ mental health and catching potentially violent students before they can act.
Jerry O’Connor writes that guns are too accessible for kids. O’Connor says gun control measures reducing the number of guns and making it harder for kids to access them are necessary to prevent future shootings. He also says schools should implement additional security measures (like metal detectors).
Read on
The Antioch High shooting is awful. Why can’t we find the root of this violence? | Opinion | Andrea Williams, The Tennessean
“As of this writing, there is no clear motive for the 17-year-old student who killed one female student and injured another before fatally turning the gun on himself. There is, of course, no justification in this case; there is no explanation that will explain the taking of a life. And yet, as we consider the violence that had been ripping apart schools across this country − far too often and for far too long − we must remember: We are rearing children in an incubator of violence, wherein conflict resolution is seen as a weakness and there are few, if any, limits to how low one will go to defend their position. This is a matter bigger and deeper than firearms. Guns may provide a quicker, cleaner way to kill. But those who want to kill will find a way, with or without them. The question we should be asking is: Why do these kids want to kill at all? And why aren’t we stopping them before they do?”
Tennessee should tackle gun violence after Antioch High shooting, but we won’t | Opinion | Jerry O’Connor, The Tennessean
“And while I won’t criticize postmortem counseling, anti-violence education efforts, and community vigils and healing events, we need to be honest: they are insufficient in affecting future outcomes. It’s the guns, folks. The guns. … Once a teen has the gun it’s just a matter of time until some perceived slight or personal crisis tempts him or her into using it for protection, to extract revenge, or simply to prove something to the world. … It does seem strange, though, that I can’t enter a heavily policed concert venue or board a plane with 300 passengers without being scanned or patted down, but a daily gathering of 2,000 teenagers features no such requirement. Fresh from their recent nationwide ‘49% landslide’ election victory I guarantee that the Republican super majority in Tennessee will give no more than lip service to any serious gun legislation.”
In your district: Top challenges in 2025
We’re still accepting responses to our reader survey on the top challenges facing your district in the coming year. Please complete the very brief survey below—anonymously, if you prefer—and we may share your response with fellow subscribers in an upcoming newsletter.
What are the top challenges facing your district in 2025?
Click here to respond!
You can read our previous reader surveys and responses here.
School board update: filing deadlines, election results, and recall certifications
In 2025, Ballotpedia will cover elections for more than 30,000 school board seats. We’re expanding our coverage each year with our eye on covering the country’s more than 80,000 school board seats.
Upcoming school board elections
You can see a more detailed version of the election information below in last week’s Hall Pass. Ballotpedia researchers continue to collect filing deadline and election date information, and we’ll have more on the Spring 2025 school board election calendar in next week’s edition.
Oklahoma
This year, Ballotpedia will provide comprehensive coverage of the Sooner State’s school board elections, including in Tulsa Public Schools, Oklahoma City Public Schools, and Edmond Public Schools—the state’s three largest districts by student enrollment.
Primaries are scheduled for Feb. 11, while general elections are scheduled for April 1.
In Oklahoma, elections are canceled if only one candidate files to run for a seat. If two candidates file, the primary is canceled and both advance to a general election. If more than two candidates file, a candidate can win the primary outright with more than 50% of the vote. When that doesn’t happen, the two top vote-getters advance to the general.
Wisconsin
Ballotpedia will cover primary elections for seven school districts in Wisconsin, including the state’s two largest school districts, on Feb. 18. These elections will occur in DeForest Area School District, Madison Metropolitan School District, McFarland School District, Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District, Milwaukee Public Schools, Sun Prairie Area School District, and Verona Area School District. The general elections for these districts are scheduled for April 1.
Seven states ban or limit cellphones in K-12 public schools—and more could follow in 2025
In 2023, Florida became the first state to enact a law limiting cellphone usage in K-12 public schools. Since then, a growing chorus of voices from Republican- and Democratic-led states, concerned that cellphones may act as a barrier to learning and negatively affect mental health, has called for stricter regulations on when and where students can access cellphones during the school day.
States have taken different approaches to phones in schools, with some regulating districts through policy or legislation and others issuing voluntary guidance. In 2024, six states enacted laws restricting phones in schools and five issued guidance encouraging districts to do so.
In the first month of 2025, lawmakers and state officials in at least 10 states have already proposed legislation banning or limiting phones in schools.
Click here to read our earlier coverage of this topic.
What follows is a look at which states restrict phones in schools, where lawmakers are proposing legislation in 2025, and what the polling says about support for and opposition to school bans. Bookmark our page on state policies on cellphone use in K-12 public schools to learn more and stay up to date on the latest news.
States that ban or restrict cellphones in schools
Seven states have enacted laws or policies banning or limiting cellphones in schools. Of the 7 states to enact laws, the partisan breakdown is:
- Democratic trifecta: 1
- Republican trifectas: 5
- Divided government: 1
Here’s a recap of each state’s law:
- California (Democratic trifecta): Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed AB 3216 on Sept. 23, 2024, requiring K-12 public and charter schools to limit or prohibit cellphones during the school day by July 1, 2026.
- Florida (Republican trifecta): DeSantis signed HB 379 on May 29, 2023, making the state the first in the country to enact a law limiting how public school students can use cellphones at school. Both chambers of the legislature approved the bill unanimously.
- Indiana (Republican trifecta): Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) signed SB 185 on March 11, 2024, banning cellphones and other portable devices, including laptops and tablets, during class time.
- Louisiana (Republican trifecta): Gov. Jeff Landry (R) signed SB 207 on May 28, 2024, prohibiting cellphones during the school day.
- Ohio (Republican trifecta): Gov. Mike DeWine (R) signed HB 250 on May 20, 2024, requiring districts to establish policies emphasizing “student cellular telephone use be as limited as possible during school hours,” and “reduce cellular telephone-related distractions in classroom settings.” Although the law does not require districts to ban student cellphone use outright, it does say districts can do so to satisfy the law’s requirements. The Ohio House approved the bill 89-0 and the Senate approved it 32-0.
- South Carolina (Republican trifecta): Lawmakers included a proviso in the 2024-25 state budget that requires schools to ban students from using cellphones during the day to receive funding: “To receive state funds allocated for State Aid to Classrooms, a school district shall implement a policy adopted by the State Board of Education that prohibits access to personal electronic communication devices by students during the school day.”
- Virginia (divided government): Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) issued Executive Order 33 on July 9, 2024, requiring districts to establish a definition of “cell phone-free education.”
States with guidance encouraging but not requiring districts to limit phone usage
Five states—Alabama, Connecticut, Kansas, Oregon, and Washington—have adopted policies encouraging districts to limit cellphone usage. Additionally, Minnesota passed a law in 2024 requiring schools to create and implement policies around cellphone usage by March 15, 2025. The law does not require schools to take any particular approach, however.
Legislation in 2025
Already this year, lawmakers and state officials in at least 10 states have introduced or said they plan to introduce legislation or policies limiting cellphones in schools. The states include those with both Republican- and Democratic-controlled governments. Here’s a look:
- Lawmakers in Alabama (Republican trifecta), Idaho (Republican trifecta), Maryland (Democratic trifecta), Massachusetts (Democratic trifecta), Nebraska (Republican trifecta), New Hampshire (Republican trifecta), New Jersey (Democratic trifecta), and Utah (Republican trifecta) have introduced or pre-filed bills in their legislatures. In Alabama, Rep. Pebblin Warren’s (D) bill would require school boards to adopt policies around cellphones and assess fines on students who repeatedly use their phones in class.
- New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) released proposals for cellphone bans. New York has a Democratic trifecta, while Iowa has a Republican one. Hochul included funding for this policy in her $252 billion budget on Jan. 21. On Jan. 25, Reynolds released proposed legislation requiring the Iowa Department of Education to establish minimum cellphone standards for districts. Districts would also be required to provide training to students in sixth through eighth grades on social media.
What the polling says about cellphone restrictions in classrooms
Disagreements over cellphone restrictions often stem from concerns about implementation and the fear that parents won’t be able to contact their children in emergencies.
- The National Parents Union, a nationwide group that describes itself as advocating for parents and families, released a survey in September 2024 that found that 78% of respondents wanted their children to have access to their phones at school for emergencies. National Parents Union President Keri Rodrigues said, “Cell phone bans fail to take into consideration the tragic, real-life scenarios that unfortunately play out all too often in schools. And schools have yet to improve communication with us.”
- An October 2024 Pew Research Center survey found 68% of U.S. adults say they support banning middle and high school students from using cellphones during class, but only 36% support an all-day ban.
- In a 2023 survey, 72% of high school teachers told Pew cellphones are a major distraction in the classroom.
Click here to read more about state-level cellphone restrictions in K-12 public schools.
Extracurricular: education news from around the web
This section contains links to recent education-related articles from around the internet. If you know of a story we should be reading, reply to this email to share it with us!
- New NAEP Scores Dash Hope of Post-COVID Learning Recovery | The 74
- 10 Takeaways from the Newly Released 2024 NAEP Results | National Assessment Governing Board
- SCOTUS to hear Oklahoma religious charter school case | K-12 Dive (click here for Ballotpedia’s coverage of this case)
- Chicago school officials say they stopped federal law enforcement from entering elementary school | Independent
- Push to mandate elected school boards in Virginia hits dead end | Virginia Mercury
- Spending during Chicago’s first school board campaign season exceeded $13 million | Chalkbeat Chicago
- What ‘Boy-Friendly’ Changes Look Like at Every Grade Level | Education Week
Take our Candidate Connection survey to reach voters in your district
Today, we’re featuring survey responses from candidates who won their school board races in the Nov. 5, 2024, general elections.
Katie Dahle defeated Barbara A. Gentry in the election for Canyons School District, District 3, in Utah. Dahle received 55% of the vote to Gentry’s 45%. Canyons School District is the sixth-largest in Utah, with around 35,000 students.
Robert Alvero defeated James Hughes in the election for Clay County District Schools school board District 2, in Florida. Alvera received 54% to Hughes’ 46%. Clay County District Schools is the 23rd-largest district in Florida, with around 39,000 students.
Here’s how Dahle answered the question, “What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?”
- “Our Canyons School District has done a good job at providing a quality education for the students in our district. I hope to continue on the legacy of the board members that have served previously. I’m running for school board as I feel it is important that we have parents of current students on our school board that understand the pressing issues of our families. I want to continue to provide the services necessary for all students to succeed at their fullest potential.
- “I’ve heard from current teachers and administrators that they need better support from the school board. My goal is to seek to better understand and support the needs and concerns of our district administrators, teachers, and staff.
- “Our community members deserve better transparency on the increasing taxes and bond expenses. I hope to improve communication between our communities and the school board. I’d also like to see improved transparency and communication about long term capital improvement plans and the associated bonds.”
Click here to read the rest of Dahle’s responses.
Here’s how Alvero responded to the prompt, “Describe your ideal learning environment for students.”
“My ideal learning environment for students is one that is, collaborative, and fosters a sense of curiosity and exploration. It should be a safe and supportive space where students feel comfortable to express their thoughts and ideas without fear of judgment. The environment should be flexible and adaptable to meet the diverse needs and learning styles of students. It should also provide access to a wide range of resources, technologies, and materials to enhance the learning experience. Additionally, the ideal learning environment should encourage critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills through hands-on activities and interactive discussions. Finally, it should promote a growth mindset, where students are encouraged to embrace challenges, learn from mistakes, and continuously strive for personal and academic growth.”
Click here to read the rest of Alvero’s responses.
Everyone deserves to know their candidates. However, we know it can be hard for voters to find information about their candidates, especially for local offices such as school boards. That’s why we created Candidate Connection—a survey designed to help candidates tell voters about their campaigns, their issues, and so much more.
In the 2024 election cycle, 6,539 candidates completed the survey, including more than 500 school board candidates.
If you’re a school board candidate or incumbent, click here to take the survey.
The survey contains more than 30 questions, and you can choose the ones you feel will best represent your views to voters. If you complete the survey, a box with your answers will appear in your Ballotpedia profile. Your responses will also appear in our sample ballot.
And if you’re not running for school board, but there is an election in your community this year, share the link with the candidates and urge them to take the survey!