Student Keiran George uses her cellphone as she steps outside the Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts High School in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

SACRAMENTO, CA., 5/17/26 — Until last month, California was poised to join nearly a dozen other states that ban cell phones in K-12 schools. But under pressure from school boards and administrators, lawmakers scaled back a bill that would have required such a blanket ban. 

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Carolyn Jones covers K-12 education at CalMatters. A longtime news reporter, she’s covered education for nearly a decade, focusing on everything from special education to state funding policies to inequities...