Now that House Bill 1481 affected the district for a semester, teachers, administrators and students show their true feelings for the bill. Mr. Michael Garza, principal of The Phoenix Academy, handles all of the students sent to the Disciplinary Alternative Education Program (DAEP) because of the House Bill.
“I personally feel that the phone bill is an overall positive for schools. It forces people to talk to each other face-to-face and forces real communication between students,” Garza said. “Some parents have emailed me and said that they need to communicate with their children, but they need to remember that this is a statewide bill. Not just Mansfield ISD, the whole state of Texas has to follow this bill.”
As per House Bill 1481, all school systems require the prohibition of all forms of telecommunications devices on school property during the school day, encompassing any device capable of communication, ranging from phones and personal computers to pagers or radios. This already follows the MISD phone policies, only adding the restriction of devices during lunch and passing periods. The district outlined exceptions to the policy.
“Although it is causing some problems with students setting up their FAFSA, we have found alternatives to fill out those things,” Garza said. “As humans, we were made to adapt. If someone flew me out to China right now, I would stumble around and probably be lost for a while, but it wouldn’t take me that long to start speaking Chinese. We need to adapt to new environments, and the lack of a phone is something that we currently have to learn how to work around.”
MISD also traces out the consequences of punishments, consisting of five levels of offenses. Any unauthorized use of telecommunication devices will result in an offense. MISD will confiscate the device after the first offense, one day of ISS for the second offense, three days for the third, ten days for the fourth and thirty days of DAEP for the fifth and any more offenses.
“It’s hard to give students an excuse or alternative punishment other than going to DAEP for breaking the phone bill. Students are given five separate chances to keep their communication devices away, and with each violation they are given ISS and we have a conversation with the student’s parents,” Garza said. “They will have 14 total days of ISS, and if they still end up going to DAEP then it is hard to give them an excuse.”
During the 2024-2025 school year, Mr. Pedro Cavazos and the Legacy Administration gave out 1,042 student referrals, most of which were tardy and absent referrals. This year, Mr. Cavazos reports much less tardiness and absences, with 332 tardies and 238 skipping referrals. Mr. Cavazos and the administration deal with all the incidents regarding cell phones.
“[Administration] is having a lot fewer confrontations during school and therefore a lot less work and a lot less referrals that involve things that are coming over social media and things of that nature, so it has helped us tremendously,” Cavazos said. “And I think it’s also been a breath of fresh air to see students actually playing games during lunch or talking to one another and not being consumed with their phones.”
The Florida government passed House Bill 379 during the 2023 school year, leading to many schools creating their own cell phone bans. The National Bureau of Economic Research conducted research that illustrates the improvement of Florida test score percentiles after the ban, showing their dramatic increase. The similarity of the two bills may lead to higher test scores in Texas.
“I think it’s been the adjustment from students having technology in the palm of their hands and being able to get answers or stimulation that has been quite an adjustment,” Cavazos said. “We have not had the same problems that I’ve heard from other schools. Our kids here have been really compliant. We haven’t had any huge blow-ups, either giving their phone up or just being defiant.”
MISD policy states that phones should be powered off and placed inside a bag, and any device should be taken up if found on someone’s person. Junior Braylen Criddell had his phone taken and sent to the office because he checked the time before leaving first period.
“The core issue is just people not having interest in focusing on their work; they just want to get distracted by something,” Criddell said. “If you take away phones, they’re just going to get distracted by something else.”
Criddell used to be a big proponent of listening to music before the ban. Currently, wired and wireless headphones are banned in hallways and classrooms.
“I hate [technology] sometimes because I can fall into the trap too. I’m checking my work email or checking this or checking that in a restaurant when I can very easily just be conversing,” Garza said. “I look around to other tables and I see mom on the tablet or dad on the phone, and then the kids have their stands with the tablets and headphones on, and the whole night, I’m thinking, ‘Man, we’ve got to talk. We’ve got to communicate.”
