More than 30 states have enacted or are moving toward school phone and screen ban policies, with laws in Alabama, Tennessee, and Utah taking effect as early as July 2026. These restrictions affect more than 8 million students with disabilities in U.S. public schools, many of whom rely on phones and screens as IEP-mandated assistive technology.

The policies create a direct conflict with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which guarantees students the right to assistive technology authorized by their individualized education programs. Some state laws include exceptions for students with disabilities, but advocates say these are bare minimum protections that schools are implementing poorly.

Who Is Affected

Students with disabilities use phones for assistive technology functions that aren't optional extras. They're authorized accommodations written into legally binding IEPs.

Blind and low-vision students use screen reading or magnifying software to access classroom materials. Students with dyslexia use dictation and audiobooks. Students with motor impairments use speech-to-text for note-taking. Students with processing disorders use organizational and reminder apps to track assignments.

Soraya Martin, a ninth grader with dyslexia, uses her phone for dictation and audiobooks under her IEP. When her school implemented a phone pouch ban, she faced friction and embarrassment pulling her phone out in front of peers who didn't understand why she had an exception.

What Changed

Alabama, Tennessee, and Utah have laws restricting phones and screens in schools that take effect as early as July 2026. The specific language varies, but most include a line mentioning exceptions for assistive technology.

That exception doesn't mean much when teachers are still adjusting to the bans and don't know which students have IEP accommodations. It's easy for a teacher unfamiliar with a student's plan to enforce the ban uniformly, putting students with disabilities in the position of having to explain their medical needs in front of classmates.

Lindsay Jones, CEO of CAST (Center for Applied Special Technology), told NPR: "We've moved so fast that we've really left our educators and our communities of people with disabilities this summer to figure it out."

The Federal Enforcement Gap

Federal oversight of disability rights in schools has weakened. The Trump administration reduced Department of Education staff responsible for civil rights enforcement and delayed a long-expected digital accessibility rule for public institutions, including schools.

Families can't count on federal intervention when schools deny access to assistive technology. That puts the burden on individual families to advocate for their child's rights at the local level.

What This Means for Families

If your child's IEP authorizes assistive technology, the school can't confiscate or restrict access to it under a blanket phone ban. But that protection only works if the IEP is specific.

An IEP that says "student may use assistive technology as needed" is vague. An IEP that says "student will use iPhone 14 with Claro ScanPen app for reading comprehension and Voice Dream Reader for audiobook access during independent work" is enforceable.

The specificity matters when a teacher questions whether a phone is being used for accommodations or social media. It also matters if you need to file a complaint with the state education agency or pursue due process.

What Families Can Do Now

• Review your child's IEP before the start of the 2026-2027 school year. Check whether assistive technology is listed by device name, app name, and function.
• Request an IEP amendment if the current plan uses vague language like "may use technology" or "as needed." Specify the exact devices and apps your child uses.
• Contact your school's special education coordinator and ask how they're implementing exceptions to the phone ban for students with IEPs. Get the protocol in writing.
• Document any instance where your child is denied access to IEP-authorized assistive technology. Note the date, time, teacher name, and what happened.
• If the school denies access, file a complaint with your state education agency. IDEA protects your child's right to the accommodations in their IEP, and phone bans don't override that.

Where to Find More Information

The full NPR/KPBS report on school screen bans and students with disabilities is available at npr.org. The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services maintains guidance on assistive technology under IDEA.