OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — An Oklahoma House Committee passed a bill called the “Bell to Bell, No Cell” bill that’s aimed at keeping cellphones out of classrooms, except under specific circumstances.

House Bill 1276 by Enid Republican Chad Caldwell, known as the “Bell to Bell, No Cell” bill cleared its first legislative hurdle. On Wednesday, House Bill 1276 passed a House Committee with an 11 to 2 vote, meaning it will move on to the full House.

Caldwell said he created the bill to help eliminate distractions in the classroom and to help improve student mental health.

“We have districts around the state, big and small, rural and urban, that have already taken the step to go phone-free. Candidly, I wish more schools would have already done that, but we are going to help our schools to do the right thing to go phone-free.”

The bill would require school boards to adopt policies prohibiting cell phone and smartwatch use on campus before the beginning of the next school year, though the policies must include a provision for emergency use.

School boards would have the option to opt out of these policies, but it would have to be a decision that’s revisited and approved yearly.

Speaker Kyle Hilbert (R-Bristow) said in a statement, “Going ‘Bell to Bell, No Cell’ is about creating a learning environment where students are not continuously distracted by their devices, and Representative Caldwell has done a tremendous job rallying support for this bill. It’s time our classrooms return to being places of learning, not distractions. House Bill 1276 gives Oklahoma’s schools the flexibility to set policies that fit their needs while reinforcing a simple goal—to let kids be kids and let teachers teach.”

Bell to Bell means the entire day from the first to the last bell.

“For this policy to be totally and truly effective, they need to work with their parents to not only educate them on the policy but the why behind the policy and how we can take this policy and make it even more robust and how we can work with their kids when they get home.”

The State Senate is also currently working on their own version of a Bell to Bell bill with the same goal.

“We know that when cell phones are in the classroom, students are distracted,” said State Senator Ally Seifried (R-Claremore). “Teachers are having to manage trying to make cell phones go away, trying to teach their lesson plan...A big part implementation doesn’t fall on teachers.”

If the bill passes the House, and the Senate, and gets the Governor’s signature, it would go into effect on July 1st just before school starts again in the fall.