Those darn state legislators are so easily distracted. You know how they like to impress others. How they’re supposed to be working on matters of considerable importance to Maryland’s future — addressing the state’s projected $3 billion budget deficit comes most immediately to mind — but then their attention will be captured by some bright, shiny object likely to get them noticed by their peers and the folks back home. And so we face the irony of watching people who are never without their cellphones lecture school officials across the state about how they ought to be taking away those very same devices from their distracted students.

They’ve got a point, of course. Cellphones are a distraction for students who ought not be using them during class. But expecting state lawmakers to pass a one-size-fits-all policy for schools (including proper hours of use or where they should be stowed or penalties for violations) is like expecting delegates and senators to write secondary school curriculum, too. They might be able to do it but it’s bound to prove a fraught exercise.

The good news is that a lot of school systems are already making progress on this very issue.

Just last week, the Howard County Board of Education voted to prohibit cellphone use during the school day (first bell to last). Violations will lead to confiscation and even smart watches are only permitted to check time. This goes into effect March 3. Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Harford counties have made notable progress on the issue too. And why not? Teachers are long complained about student cellphone use and how distracting it can be. At least 72% of high school teachers say it’s a problem, according to one survey. And while most districts are adopting policies, they can be difficult to enforce.

See the problem?

The devil with such policies is always in the details. In some school districts, it’s vital that students have access to cellphones to be able to arrange after-school transportation. Others will acknowledge that the devices can be useful for students seeking answers to straightforward questions like the birthplace of Millard Fillmore (Summer Hill, New York) or the first three math operations (in order, it’s parentheses, exponents and multiplication). Hey, sometimes it pays to have internet access.

Such subtleties are easily lost in the halls of the Maryland State House. Better to rely on experts like the Maryland State Department of Education’s Task Force on Student Cell Phone Use in Schools. That group is expected to recommend policy for local school districts by April. We think this is exactly the sort of complex matter best resolved at the school board level. We don’t blame lawmakers for wanting to share their thoughts on the subject. We would be less sanguine — attention lawmakers, that’s another way to say “optimistic” — if they big-footed their way into the issue and made matters worse.