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New Michigan law requires high‑school cellphone protocols; Garden City prepares building‑level policies
Summary
House Bill 4141 and Senate Bill 495, signed into law this winter, require districts to adopt policies keeping cellphones 'out of sight, out of mind' during instructional time; Garden City plans building‑level handbook updates, with the biggest changes at the high school.
Derek Fisher said the district is implementing a new statutory requirement — passed this winter as House Bill 4141 and Senate Bill 495 and signed by Governor Whitmer — that asks schools to develop protocols limiting student access to cell phones during instruction. "It requires districts to develop protocols... keeping cell phones away and out of sight, out of mind, during the instructional day," Fisher said.
Fisher said each building will include cellphone protocol language in its handbook and that messaging to parents and students will continue through the summer and into the school year. He said kindergarten through 8th‑grade programming generally already limits in‑day cellphone use, so the major adjustment will be at the high‑school level where students have had more access during instructional time.
