Texas School Cell Phone Law (HB 1481): What Schools Must Do

Yes. Texas HB 1481 (Education Code § 37.082) requires every school district and open-enrollment charter school to prohibit students from using phones, smartwatches, tablets and other personal communication devices on school property for the whole school day. It took effect June 20, 2025, and local policies were due by Sept. 18, 2025.

Last checked October 12, 2026 against the enrolled text of HB 1481, its bill history and the Texas Education Agency's July 31, 2025 implementation letter. This page explains the law; it is not legal advice.

What HB 1481 Requires

HB 1481 rewrote Education Code § 37.082, which had only let districts prohibit students from possessing paging devices. Each school board and charter governing body must now adopt, implement and ensure compliance with:

"a written policy prohibiting a student from using a personal communication device while on school property during the school day"

Source: Tex. Educ. Code § 37.082(a), as amended by HB 1481

• • Whole school day, not just class. The rule covers use anywhere on school property during the school day, so lunch and passing periods are included.
• • Discipline is required. The policy must set disciplinary measures for violations.
• • Three exceptions are required (listed below).
• • On school property only. HB 1481 struck the old reference to school-sponsored activities off school property.

Two Ways to Comply: Off Campus or Stored

Section 37.082(b) says a policy may comply either by prohibiting students from bringing devices onto school property, or by designating a method for storing devices while students are on school property during the school day. Neither is mandatory; the core duty is a policy that prohibits use. TEA's guidance repeats the same two options.

Devices Covered

A "personal communication device" is a telephone, a cell phone (smartphone or flip phone), a tablet, a smartwatch, a radio device, a paging device, or any other electronic device capable of telecommunication or digital communication. Devices that the district or charter school provides to students are not covered.

The Three Required Exceptions

Every policy must authorize use:

1. Necessary to carry out an individualized education program (IEP), a Section 504 plan, or a similar program or plan.
2. By a student with a documented need based on a directive from a qualified physician.
3. Necessary to comply with a health or safety requirement imposed by law, or as part of the district's or school's safety protocols.

The statute has no general "emergency" or "teacher-approved educational use" exception. Emergency use belongs in the district's safety protocols, which the third exception covers. The emergency wording for every state, D.C. and Puerto Rico is in school phone ban emergency exceptions by state.

Discipline, Confiscation and the 90-Day Rule

• • The policy must establish disciplinary measures and may provide for confiscation.
• • A confiscated device may be disposed of in any reasonable manner only after the parent receives 90 days' written notice.
• • HB 1481 deleted the old provision that let schools charge up to $15 before returning a confiscated device.

TEA Guidance and the $20 Million Grant

The law directs the Texas Education Agency to publish model policy language. TEA's July 31, 2025 letter to administrators gave Sept. 18, 2025 as the adoption deadline, pointed districts to its model policies and guidance, and announced $20 million for the 2025–26 Phone Free Schools Grant Program to help school systems buy secure storage, such as pouches, cabinets and lockers.

HB 1481 Timeline

What HB 1481 Does Not Require

• • A particular storage method. Banning devices from campus and storing them are options, not mandates.
• • State reporting or audits. The law creates no reporting or audit duty; compliance runs through the local policy.
• • Rules for school-issued devices or private schools. District-provided devices are excluded, and private schools are not covered. Published phone policies from 61 Texas private and independent schools, each with the handbook quote and source.

Texas Compared With New York and Florida

See every state in our school phone laws by state tracker, or the Texas district pages.

How Texas districts are carrying it out

The law sets the floor; each district writes its own policy on top of it. Here is what large Texas districts have adopted, from their own published policies:

• • Houston Independent School District: No phone use from arrival on campus until the final period ends, lunch and passing periods included.
• • Dallas Independent School District: No use or display of phones and other devices during the instructional day; elementary teachers collect phones in homeroom, and secondary schools use pouches that open with a magnet.
• • Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District: Devices stay off and stored in a bag or backpack all school day, including class, passing periods and lunch.
• • Northside Independent School District: Phones are powered off and stored in backpacks or a set classroom location from the first bell to the last, including lunch.
• • Fort Bend Independent School District: Bans phone use on campus from the first bell to the final bell; students in pre-K through grade 1 may not bring a device at all.
• • Austin Independent School District: Devices stay off and out of sight from before the first bell until the last bell, including lunch.
• • Fort Worth Independent School District: Phones, smartwatches and earbuds stay off and out of sight for the whole school day, including lunch and hallways.

Where Software Fits

HB 1481's core duty is a policy that prohibits use; keeping devices off campus and storing them are the two compliance options it names. Some schools add software to enforce the no-use rule. LockedIn is one option: students' own phones lock during the school day and unlock after school, students can always call home or 911, and the admin dashboard flags a new unapproved device, a possible uninstall, mock locations and use of blocked apps. The board still adopts the policy, sets the discipline and handles the required exceptions, and should confirm with counsel how any tool fits its policy.

Primary Sources

• • HB 1481, enrolled text (Education Code § 37.082)
• • HB 1481 bill history (Texas Legislature Online)
• • TEA: Implementation of HB 1481 (July 31, 2025)