Summary: HF 782 (formerly HSB 106) — Electronic Devices in Schools
Status: Committee report approving bill, renumbered HF 782. Introduced January 30, 2025. Subcommittee and committee actions completed in February 2025; approved by the Education Committee in March 2025.
Purpose and intent
- Establish guidelines for student use of personal electronic devices during instructional hours in grades 6–8.
- Require instruction on the effects of social media, with professional development support for teachers.
- Align school safety planning and emergency operations with the new device-use policies.
Who/what is affected
- Students enrolled in grades six through eight in:
- School districts
- Accredited nonpublic schools
- Charter schools
- Innovation zone schools
- School districts, charter schools, and innovation zones (through policy adoption and EOP alignment)
- Iowa Department of Education (DE) and Department of Public Safety (DPS)
- Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (in social media instruction planning)
Key provisions and changes
- Personal electronic device defined: includes electronic communication devices, mobile phones, smartphones, video game devices, and portable media players.
- Policy adoption (starting with the 2025-2026 school year, i.e., school year beginning July 1, 2025):
- Districts, charter schools, and innovation zones must adopt policies governing student use of personal electronic devices during school hours.
- DE to develop and distribute model policies that satisfy school responsibilities; districts may adopt policies more stringent than the model.
- Districts, however, may choose policies that are stricter than the model policies.
- Social media instruction:
- DE to consult with HHS on the effects of social media and provide professional development support to teachers to deliver such instruction to grades 6–8.
- Emergency operations plans (EOPs) alignment:
- DE and DPS must consult on revisions needed to high-quality EOPs under Code section 280.30 so plans reflect the new policies.
- School districts must revise their high-quality EOPs by July 1, 2025 to ensure consistency with the bill’s provisions.
- Effective date provisions:
- Many provisions take effect upon enactment.
- Policy adoption and EOP revision deadlines tie to July 1, 2025.
- Fiscal considerations:
- The bill includes a state mandate provision (Code 25B.3). If a state mandate is included, the state would be responsible for none of the mandated costs; the bill provides that the state cost, if any, of a state mandate is to be paid by the school district.
Administrative and timeline highlights
- Introduced and assigned to Education (Jan 30, 2025).
- Subcommittee and committee actions culminated in a committee report with passage and renumbering (HF 782) in late February and early March 2025.
- Model policies and PD resources to be issued by DE; districts have until July 1, 2025, to align EOPs and begin policy adoption for the 2025-2026 school year.
Overall impact
- Creates a structured framework for managing personal device use during school hours for middle-grade students.
- Integrates social media education into the middle-school curriculum with teacher PD.
- Ties device policies to school safety planning, ensuring EOPs reflect new policies.
- Places initial policy development and EOP alignment responsibilities on DE, DPS, and school districts, with potential district-level costs subject to state-mandated funding rules.
