Denver Public Schools passes bell-to-bell cell phone ban

Denver Public Schools students will be heading back to class this fall with one less distraction — their phones. The DPS Board of Education voted unanimously Monday to enact a bell-to-bell ban on cell phones and personal devices for the entire school day. The policy covers not just smartphones, but also smart watches, earbuds, personal tablets and personal laptops. The ban takes effect when school resumes in August and applies across the district’s nearly 200 schools and more than 89,000 students — making DPS the largest district in Colorado to adopt such a sweeping policy.

The move goes beyond what state law actually requires. A 2025 Colorado law mandates that all school districts adopt some kind of cell phone policy by July 1, but stops short of requiring a ban. DPS chose to go further, thanks in large part to a 17-member community committee made up of parents, educators and community members — 100% of whom agreed that personal devices should be off-limits during school hours. “It was a thoughtful community recommendation, not a top-down directive,” said School Board Director Marlene De La Rosa. “It is focused on sustained attention, reducing distraction and limiting social media harms during the school day.” DPS special education teacher Maria Falcón put it even more bluntly: “Cellphones are the No. 1 disruption in the classroom. There’s just no control.”

Not everyone is thrilled, of course. Several DPS students and parents have raised concerns about being unable to reach each other in an emergency, though the district points out it already has a text alert system in place to keep parents informed. There are also exceptions built in for students who rely on personal devices for healthcare needs. As for the how — meaning exactly how each school will store and enforce the ban — that’s still being worked out. Superintendent Alex Marrero will be collaborating with school administrators across the district to figure out the logistics before the first bell rings in August. If early results from schools that already have bans in place are any indication, though, the payoff could be big. One local administrator whose school already went phone-free summed it up this way: “Now when I cross the courtyard, students are playing on the lawn — talking to each other and looking one another in the eye instead of staring at a glowing screen.”