Federal money helps schools ban student phones during class.
S. 5620 — UNPLUGGED Schools Grant Act of 2026 · Filed by Mark Kelly (D-AZ) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Sep 30, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill gives federal money to states that ban student phones. Students cannot have phones, smartwatches, or tablets during school hours. Schools can buy lockable pouches or boxes to store devices. Students with medical needs or disabilities can keep their devices.
Who it affects
Students, parents, and schools are affected. Students cannot use personal devices in class. Parents cannot reach children by phone during the day.
One thing to notice
The bill does not say schools must let parents call kids in emergencies. The bill does not say who pays if a device gets lost or stolen.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- Sep 30, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Sep 30, 2026 — Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- ban — a rule that stops students from having or using something
- lockable pouches — bags that lock to hold and protect confiscated phones
- federal money — money from the U.S. government given to states
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (8,046 characters) on Oct 16, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Federal money helps schools ban student phones during class.” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s5620/simple Report an error
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