Students in Olympia and Tumwater schools could be required to stow their phones and smartwatches from first bell to last bell.

Ferguson's "Away for the Day" proposal at a meeting on June 8th would cover all K-12 public schools in Washington. He expects to release a detailed plan by September 15 and prefile the bill on December 7, the first day prefiling opens.

"Our kids are missing what's written on the whiteboard and focusing more on memes instead of math because of digital distractions," Ferguson said at the June 8 announcement in Seattle. "No single policy can solve every challenge in education, but this one will make a big difference in our students' social and academic engagement."

Some area schools already enforce phone restrictions. Bush Middle School in Tumwater requires devices to be "off and away" from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., according to its 2025–2026 student handbook. Consequences escalate from a warning to confiscation requiring a parent to pick up the device.

Olympia School District's specific cellphone policy could not be confirmed from publicly available documents.

Neighboring North Thurston Public Schools, Thurston County's largest district, held a first reading on June 17 of two cellphone rule proposals that sparked student privacy concerns, The Olympian reported.

About 75% of Washington school districts already restrict phone use in classrooms, according to OSPI data from August 2025. But most of those policies cover instructional time only. Just 31% require devices put away for the entire school day.

According to the governor's announcement, a national report card gives Washington an "F" for its cellphone policy. At least 31 states and the District of Columbia now restrict student phone use, with 22 of those requiring bell-to-bell bans.

The idea isn't new in Olympia. State Sen. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, sponsored a bill during the 2026 session to ban phones in schools. It was amended to require a study from the superintendent's office, with policy recommendations due by December 2027 and implementation not until 2030.

"What we did this year was the — literally the bare minimum," Liias told the Washington State Standard.

State Superintendent Chris Reykdal, who endorsed Ferguson's proposal, told TVW in April 2026 that a patchwork approach is emerging across districts.

Ferguson and his team will hold listening sessions across the state through September 2026, covering enforcement options, district support needs, exceptions for IEPs and 504 plans, and emergency communications plans. Specific dates and locations for local sessions have not yet been announced.

The governor plans to introduce the bill for the 2027 legislative session, with school districts implementing the policy by September 2027.