California Phone-Free Schools Act (AB 3216): What the Cell Phone Law Requires

Not statewide. California's Phone-Free Schools Act, AB 3216 (Education Code § 48901.7), required every school district, county office of education and charter school to adopt a policy that limits or prohibits student smartphone use by July 1, 2026. Each district decides how strict its policy is, and four exceptions always apply.

Last checked October 12, 2026 against the Assembly Education Committee's April 2026 analysis of Education Code § 48901.7, the AB 962 and AB 1644 bill records, and the Senate Appropriations Committee's Aug. 13, 2026 results. The citation name, the Phone-Free Schools Act, is section 1 of AB 3216 (checked October 28, 2026). This page explains the law; it is not legal advice.

Not in California? See every state's school phone law, with a map, the bill and the effective date for each.

What the Phone-Free Schools Act Requires

AB 3216 (Chapter 500, Statutes of 2024) turned a power districts had held since 2019 into a duty. Before it, AB 272 (Chapter 42, Statutes of 2019) let a governing board limit or prohibit smartphones but did not require it. Under Education Code § 48901.7 as amended, every school district, county office of education and charter school must:

• • Adopt a policy that limits or prohibits student smartphone use while students are at a schoolsite or under the supervision and control of its employees. The deadline was July 1, 2026.
• • Update the policy at least every five years.
• • Develop it with stakeholder input, so it reflects the needs of the community's students, parents and educators.
• • Allow the four exceptions below. The policy may include enforcement mechanisms, but the law does not require any particular one.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 3216 on Sept. 23, 2024, and the law is now fully in effect. In an Aug. 25, 2026 back-to-school letter, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond asked local agencies to communicate their board-approved policies clearly to students, families and staff, and to apply them consistently across campuses.

The Four Exceptions Every California Policy Must Allow

Section 48901.7 says a student may not be prohibited from possessing or using a smartphone:

1. In an emergency, or in response to a perceived threat of danger.
2. When a teacher or administrator grants permission, subject to any reasonable limits they set.
3. When a licensed physician and surgeon determines the phone is necessary for the student's health or well-being.
4. When the student's individualized education program (IEP) requires it.

One 2025 change affects the first exception. AB 962 (Chapter 284, Statutes of 2025) lets a district restrict phones during an emergency or perceived threat only if its comprehensive school safety plan explicitly addresses that situation. Those plans are reviewed each year by March 1, which is the natural time to decide.

The emergency wording for every state, D.C. and Puerto Rico is in school phone ban emergency exceptions by state.

The statute names an IEP. Section 504 plans and translation needs are not listed as statutory exceptions, though a district may add them to its own policy.

What AB 3216 Does Not Require

• • A full-day ban. "Limit or prohibit" leaves the choice to each district, so phones at lunch, between classes or before school are a local decision.
• • A storage method. Pouches, lockers, "off and away" rules and software are all local choices; the statute names none.
• • State reporting, audits or penalties. AB 3216 has none. AB 1644 would have spelled out that the Department of Education may monitor and audit compliance; it did not pass.
• • Monitoring students' online activity. Section 48901.7 states that it does not authorize monitoring, collecting or accessing information about a student's online activities.
• • Rules for private schools. The law applies only to school districts, county offices of education and charter schools. Published phone policies from 52 California private and independent schools, each with the handbook quote and source.

How California Districts Have Used That Flexibility

Because the scope is local, policies vary. The Assembly Education Committee's April 2026 analysis describes several:

• • San Diego Unified bans phones bell to bell for grades K–8. High school students may not use phones during instruction but may at lunch and passing periods. Before adopting it, the district surveyed its community (2,236 respondents) and held student focus groups.
• • Poway Unified surveyed students, families and staff and held advisory-council focus groups; its April 2026 report counted more than 12,000 survey responses.
• • Other districts described in the analysis range from class-time-only rules to all-day limits in middle school, and several changed their policies after first putting them in place.

For district-level pages, see Los Angeles Unified, San Diego Unified and the other California districts.

AB 3216 Timeline

Is There a New California Phone Law in 2026?

Not one that passed. AB 1644 (Muratsuchi) would have replaced the local "limit or prohibit" choice with a required prohibition. As amended in the Senate on June 22, 2026, it covered transitional kindergarten through grade 8, left high schools under AB 3216, and would have kept K–8 instruction from requiring a smartphone starting July 1, 2028. The Senate Appropriations Committee held it in committee on Aug. 13, 2026, so AB 3216 remains the governing law.

What Administrators Should Check Now

The first four steps follow from the statute. The last two are good practice, not legal requirements.

1. Confirm the board-adopted policy is in place and published where families can find it.
2. Check that it allows all four statutory exceptions, in the statute's terms.
3. If it restricts phones during emergencies, make sure the comprehensive school safety plan explicitly covers that situation (AB 962).
4. Keep a record of the stakeholder input behind the policy, and calendar the five-year update.
5. Decide explicitly whether lunch, passing periods and smartwatches are covered, and tell families how to reach students during the day.
6. Track how the policy works (violations, exceptions granted) so the five-year update rests on evidence.

Our free phone-free school policy generator can produce a first draft to review with counsel, or start from our free school cell phone policy template.

California Compared With Texas, New York and Florida

See every state in our school phone laws by state tracker.

Where Software Fits

AB 3216 leaves enforcement to each district: pouches, lockers, an "off and away" rule or software can all carry out a limit-or-prohibit policy. LockedIn is one software option. Students' own phones lock during the school day and unlock after school, students can always call home or 911, and in an emergency one tap starts Emergency Mode on every phone, with an "I'm safe / I need help" check-in. The dashboard flags a new unapproved device, a possible uninstall, mock locations and use of blocked apps. Software does not replace the board-adopted policy or its exceptions. Because § 48901.7(c) says the section does not authorize monitoring or accessing information about a pupil's online activities, have counsel review any tool that handles student device data before adopting it.

Primary Sources

• • California Education Code § 48901.7
• • AB 3216 (2024), Chapter 500
• • AB 962 (2025), Chapter 284
• • Assembly Education Committee analysis of AB 1644 (Apr. 22, 2026)
• • Senate Appropriations Committee results, Aug. 13, 2026
• • California Department of Education: back-to-school letter, Aug. 25, 2026