Bell-to-Bell Ban

For years, cellphone usage in schools has been a debate among teachers, lawmakers, and school administration. Last year, devices were banned by law during instructional time. But now, they are gone for good.
In a push to remove phones from schools altogether, Utah Governor Spencer Cox signed SB69, a revision of SB178 from the 2025 general session.
The revisions passed on Feb. 26 in the 2026 general session “establishes the default standard device use from prohibited during instructional time prohibited during the school day; and makes technical and conforming changes.”
Compared to the original legislation, the revisions do not permit students’ use of cellphones during any school hours – including lunch, recess, and passing periods.
Highland classrooms underwent serious changes this past school year as the administration and district staff moved to comply with the law. Now, there is a new layer as students are not even supposed to bring them out even when outside of class.
Most teachers welcomed the law because it gave them justification for asking students to put phones away.
“It is less work for me because [monitoring cellphone usage] was constant, constant policing,” Highland language arts teacher Julie Parkin said.
Even though the law restricts cellphone usage in schools, it is ultimately up to teachers on how much or how little they enforce it.
“I’ve gone into some classrooms where teachers have not necessarily enforced it much at all,” Highland principal Jeremy Chatterton said. “And I’ve gone into some where teachers are requiring students to put their phones in the pockets.”
Although lawmakers believe that cellphones should not be used in schools for any reason, many teachers believe a broad ban goes too far. For some classes, the easy access to cameras, calculators, search engines and more are invaluable to education if utilized correctly..
“I’ve got a lot of kids that work on iPads,” Tera Hunter, Highland art teacher said. “. . . also, I love students to have access to their own images, their own set of photos that they have in [their phones] so that they’re working from their own source materials.”
As a part of the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses that Hunter teaches, students must submit progress photos along with their portfolios and oftentimes use their cellphone cameras as a quick way to document.
Students also use cellphones as calculators and translations devices.
For some students cellphones are not a distraction, but a tool.
“It’s hard not to be able to submit assignments through canvas if we have to take a photo,” Highland senior Salvatore Mork said.
As many teachers move to digitize their assignments, students are required to take photos of their paper assignments to be submitted on Canvas and then graded. Although the school provides laptops to all students that include a camera, Mork argues that the low quality and inaccessibility of them make cellphones a better option.
Mork has noticed that students who are generally engaged in class are oftentimes the ones to comply with the law. Classes with a lot of downtime are also prone to have more cellphone use by students.
But as Utah schools move to incorporate the policy, Highland turns to the Salt Lake City School District for guidelines. As of now, they have not yet decided how they will incorporate SB69 into their schools.
In states where bans are already in effect, some schools have adopted the use of phone pouches where students are required to put their phones into magnet-locking containers during the school day. Unlocking requires students to use a device near exits to open the pouches.
These revisions will also require extra monitoring during lunch and passing periods to keep students off of their phones and focused on schoolwork and interacting with their peers.
In a statement from Gov. Cox regarding multiple bills passed this session regarding students’ use of technology, he says, “By reducing screen time in schools and strengthening digital safety, we’re establishing our bell-to-bell cell phone restriction so students can focus, connect and learn.”