Board discusses likely state "bell-to-bell" cell-phone ban and local implementation choices
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Summary
MSD Wabash County Schools trustees discussed a likely state "bell-to-bell" cell-phone ban that will force the district to choose whether to prohibit devices entirely or require powered-off storage; board members asked whether the rule must appear in board policy or may be adopted in student handbooks and flagged exceptions for medical and dual-credit access.
The Chair and district administrators discussed a pending state "bell-to-bell" cell-phone ban that the Presenter said is "most likely going to pass," and noted the district will have to decide how to implement it locally.
The Presenter said the law will require the district to adopt a rule deciding "whether we prohibit devices completely from school or that we allow the devices to be powered off and inaccessible by students, during the day in some type of storage policy like blockers or something like that." The Presenter added that the district will make decisions "once that law gets finalized." The Presenter also noted the law’s effective timing and related legislative items under discussion at the statehouse.
Board members and public commenters pressed for clarity on where a local requirement must be codified. The Presenter said the Indiana Department of Education is expected to provide example policy language, but the example often arrives late in the summer; "the example policy doesn't come out till close to August," the Presenter said. The Chair explained that in some past cases the district adopted handbook amendments after a law passed rather than a policy change, and asked the board to consider how it wants the district to proceed.
Members also highlighted practical exceptions and technical issues. The Chair noted medical exemptions (for example, students with diabetes who require phone access) and raised concerns about dual-credit classes that rely on phone-based two-factor authentication for college systems. "Emails have to be dual authenticated, and so all of my students have been in an IU class. When they log in, it will send them a code to their phone," the Chair said, underscoring the need for written exceptions and implementation guidance.
What happens next: board members said they expect to wait for final legislative language and for DOE example policy; the district will return with recommendations once the state’s law and sample guidance are published. No formal policy vote was taken at this meeting.
