Cell phone bans: Tell us how it’s going at your school

Close-up of young students' hands holding mobile phones.
Indiana schools must have cell phone bans under a new state law. Chalkbeat wants to hear from parents, students, and educators about how it’s going. (Daniel de la Hoz / Getty Images)

Sign up for Chalkbeat Indiana’s free daily newsletter to keep up with Indianapolis Public Schools, Marion County’s township districts, and statewide education news.

Students are back in class. But their cell phones are probably not.

Before this school year, some Indiana schools may have had restrictions on students’ cell phone use. But now, all schools are now required to have policies banning “any portable wireless device” during class time due to a new state law.

This includes phones and other devices that provide communication between two parties. Districts, including charter schools, must adopt policies banning several types of devices during class time, although there are some exceptions related to health care and emergencies.

But lawmakers didn’t pass a one-size-fits-all cell phone ban. Each school district must come up with its own policy for exactly how student cell phone bans work.

And that’s where you come in. We want to know how it’s going at your school. Has the ban made a difference? Were there unexpected results? Have schools struggled to implement or enforce the student cell phone ban? Let us know below:

If you are having trouble viewing this form, go here.

MJ Slaby oversees Chalkbeat Indiana’s coverage as bureau chief. Contact MJ at mslaby@chalkbeat.org.

The Latest

Will schools have to proactively notify parents about student gender identity decisions, or could they wait for parents to ask? Those and other questions are still up in the air.

The school board decided on a group of finalists, who will interview with the mayor and board members.

Parents, teachers, and students oppose plans to close or combine several of the schools, saying they are valued alternatives to neighborhood schools

Some Memphis board members want to establish a bipartisan accountability council to help guide district decision-making. The proposal comes over a year into the state GOP-backed effort to take over the district.

There are multiple contracts between Newark Public Schools and Driscoll Foods authorizing the district to spend up to $12 million with the food supplier.

The flap between DJ Torres and Xóchitl Gaytán brought to mind a contentious era of the Denver school board a few years ago.