As the 2025 school year gets underway, each of Iowa’s public school districts must enforce a new state law that calls for restricting students’ access to cell phones while they’re in class. The Iowa Department of Education’s website posted a model policy on its website this spring, as well as recommendations for school districts that have not had cell phone limitations before this school year. Matt Carver is legal services director for the School Administrators of Iowa, and he told Radio Iowa recently about when exceptions may be allowed.
“There are very specific exceptions that of course need to be made not only under Iowa law, but federal law relating to students with disabilities,” Carver says. “…Also, while it’s not required, schools are permitted as well to have an exception for English learners, so those students may have an exception, potentially, to have an exception in the classroom if it’s beneficial in their learning process.”
Carver says there’s another exception that would give teachers some authority to incorporate cell phone use in their lesson plans.
“Let’s say they’re teaching students about A.I. or they’re doing something else that is key to the work that they’re doing in the classroom,” he says, “perhaps it’s doing research and they want the students not just to use their laptops, but perhaps to use their phones for research.”
Earlier this summer, RadioOnTheGo News spoke with new Hampton-Dumont Superintendent Tim Felderman about the district’s new policy to bring the school in compliance with state law.
“We went with the recommendations from the state, the admin team of this spring, the really robust conversation about what that should look like. And so the cell phones are not to be used during instructional time. And the principles we have in more detailed conversations with their staff as to what that looks like. So we see this as being a positive. It’s not a limitation to student learning, but actually in the end, a positive, there’s not gonna be the distractions to student learning. So it’s a good policy and procedure, and we feel that things will go well with it this year.”
Governor Kim Reynolds signed the law at the end of April. Sixteen states have an outright ban on cell phone use during the entire school day. Iowa and six other states have laws that restrict cell phone use during class time, although Iowa’s law lets school districts adopt stricter policies.
Portions of this story are courtesy Radio Iowa. Their full story can be found here: https://www.radioiowa.com/2025/08/25/cell-phone-limits-required-in-iowa-as-school-year-starts/
RadioOnTheGo News’ original story with Hampton-Dumont Superintendent Tim Felderman can be found here: https://www.radioonthego.com/2025/08/08/hampton-dumont-school-board-approves-updated-device-policy-ahead-of-2025-26-school-year/
