Arizona state schools chief holds press conference on statewide school cellphone ban

PHOENIX (KYMA, KECY) - Arizona State Schools Chief Tom Horne is holding a press conference late Thursday morning.

According to a press release obtained by KYMA, the press conference is to announce a "renewed effort to have a state law" to address a cellphone ban in the classroom.

The press release says former public school teacher Mitchell Rutherford of Tucson is joining Horne as he "left his position in frustration over the proliferation of mobile devices being used by students in the classroom."

"In January, I vowed to wage war against cellphone addiction. I decided, at that point, that I could not continue as a teacher," said former teacher Mitchell Rutherford.

Locally, some parents have differing views on the topic.

"There's a lot of social media stuff going on, and I think it's, like, not good for the kids they need to be off their phones and be living their life," said local parent Candy Bounuelos.

While another parent says students should be able to keep their phones, but with some rules in place.

"I feel like maybe they should maybe turn them in the beginning of a class...Maybe in a bin or something like that, but I think it is important especially for us parents to be able to have communication," said Delilah Martinez.

Legislation was passed last year, but Governor Hobbs vetoed it, saying "This legislation establishes an unnecessary mandate for an issue schools are already addressing."

Horne is urging people to contact the governor's office so she doesn't veto similar legislation in the future.

The press release also says State Senator Shawnna Bolick, Payson School District Governing Board member Susan War and Superintendent Dr. Bob Papalardo of the Apache Junction District were also participating in the press conference.

To watch the press conference, see attached video.