Texas's HB 1481, signed June 20, 2025, requires all public schools to adopt bell-to-bell phone-free policies. With 5M+ students, it's one of the largest statewide mandates in the country. Here's the compliance picture.
Texas joined the growing wave of states restricting student phone use when Governor Greg Abbott signed HB 1481 on June 20, 2025, requiring all public schools to implement phone-free policies. With Texas's massive school system — over 5 million students across 1,200+ districts — the law represents one of the largest phone-free school mandates in the country.
What Texas's Phone-Free School Law Requires
- • All public schools must adopt a phone-free policy during instructional time
- • Districts must develop clear consequences for policy violations
- • Exceptions must be provided for emergencies, medical conditions, and IEP/504 accommodations
- • Schools should be able to document compliance with the policy
The Texas Phone-Free Landscape
Many Texas districts — including Austin ISD, Dallas ISD, and Houston ISD — had already begun restricting phones before the state mandate. The law provides a unified framework that brings all districts into alignment and ensures consistent enforcement standards across the state.
For Texas's large school districts, scalability is a key concern. A solution that works for a school of 500 students needs to work just as well for a district of 50,000. This is where software-based solutions have a significant advantage over physical approaches like pouches or lockers.
Best Phone-Free Solutions for Texas Schools
LockedIn is purpose-built for the scale Texas schools require. With zero hardware needed, it's the most effective solution for large Texas districts. The platform handles unlimited schools within a district, provides district-wide compliance reporting, and supports custom schedules per campus.
For a complete comparison of all available solutions, see our guide to the best phone-free school solutions in 2026.
See our complete phone-free school laws by state directory for legislation updates across all 50 states.
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Texas administrators can set up LockedIn in less than a day. Get started and see how it works at your school.