COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Students in Ohio public schools are beginning their first full school year under a statewide bell-to-bell cell phone restriction, but education experts say how the policy works in practice will depend heavily on the students, families and schools carrying it out.
Ohio first required school districts to adopt cell phone policies in 2024. Lawmakers tightened the rule in last year’s state budget, directing public districts, community schools and STEM schools to prohibit student cell phone use throughout the instructional day by Jan. 1 of this year.
That includes class time as well as lunch, recess, passing periods and other supervised activities. Districts decide how phones are stored and how violations are handled, and they can extend the prohibition to other electronic communications devices, including smartwatches.
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State law provides exceptions for student learning, certain medical needs, individualized education programs (IEPs), 504 plans and emergencies. See a previous report from NBC4 in the video player above.…