LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – As students across Texas begin their second year under a statewide ban on student cell phones during school hours, Lubbock Independent School District officials say the local impact has been overwhelmingly positive.<\/p>\n
Lubbock ISD Superintendent Dr. Kathy Rollo says the policy has dramatically changed the atmosphere on high school campuses.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is really neat when you walk into a high school campus now,\u201d Rollo said. \u201cIn the past, before last year, kids would be on their phones in the hallways during passing periods, during lunch, and unfortunately sometimes even during class time. And now what you see is they don\u2019t have their hoodies on and they\u2019re looking and talking with each other. And it\u2019s really a nice thing to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the district\u2019s policy, students are expected to turn off their cell phones and keep them out of sight for the duration of the school day. Exceptions are made only for students with documented special needs or medical concerns.<\/p>\n
Rollo emphasized that the policy does not prevent students from bringing devices to school entirely, but rather regulates their use.<\/p>\n
\u201cParents can still contact them or see where they are after school hours, after the last bell. And so that\u2019s important to note\u2014that Lubbock ISD\u2019s policy does not forbid them from bringing their phones to school. They just have to be out of sight and off,\u201d Rollo said.<\/p>\n
A \u2018Marvelous\u2019 Academic and Social Impact<\/p>\n
According to administrators, the phone-free environment has led to noticeable improvements both inside and outside the classroom. Teachers and campus leaders report that class participation and grades are up.<\/p>\n
Additionally, the district has seen a decrease in bullying and cyberbullying, which Rollo attributes directly to removing the primary source during the school day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe result was actually marvelous,\u201d Rollo said. \u201cSo when you look at the social behaviors of kids, they\u2019re interacting more with each other than what they did previously when they had access to their phones during the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rollo believes the lack of digital distractions has allowed teachers to do what they do best.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have heard positive feedback from teachers and campus leadership about how students are interacting in class with each other more often,\u201d said Rollo. \u201cAnd there\u2019s nothing more powerful than being in a classroom with students and a highly effective teacher and great curriculum. That is the recipe for a top student experience education. And so not having access to their cell phones has helped enhance that student experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keeping Parents Connected<\/p>\n
With the policy remaining strictly in place for the upcoming school year, district officials are reminding parents of the importance of maintaining open lines of communication. Parents are encouraged to ensure their contact information is fully up to date with their child\u2019s school.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 KCBD. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – As students across Texas begin their second year under a statewide ban on student…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[141164,141166,168,170,9865,169,97071,141165,141163],"class_list":["post-403015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lubbock","tag-cell-phone-ban","tag-dr-kathy-rollo","tag-lubbock","tag-lubbock-headlines","tag-lubbock-isd","tag-lubbock-news","tag-natalie-reyna","tag-school-year-2026","tag-texas-statewide-cell-phone-ban"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}