A 2026 bill prohibiting the use of smart devices in schools is on its way to Gov. Spencer Cox’s desk to become law.
Senate Bill 69, sponsored by Republicans Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, who represents Salt Lake County, and Rep. Doug Welton, who represents Utah County, places new restrictions on smart device usage during the school day.
The bill bans the use of smart devices from the first bell of the school day to the last, as opposed to just during classroom hours. S.B. 69 builds on S.B. 178, which passed in 2025 and addressed the use of cellphones during classroom hours.
This year’s device revisions bill passed in the Utah Senate on Thursday. That includes the use of cellphones, smart watches and emerging technologies that could act in place of or as an extension of a student’s smartphone.
S.B. 69 is a change to the Wasatch County School District policy outlining smartphone restrictions in secondary schools. In district secondary schools, cell phone use is permitted outside of classroom hours. That policy was updated and implemented in August.
School Board President Kim Dickerson said the matter has also been up to the discretion of school teachers. The school district policy outlines that administrators and teachers may give permission for students to use electronic devices for causes that support instructional and educational purposes, per state law.
But Dickerson said the bill’s passage did not come as a surprise.
“It was something that we were expecting and that we’ve been keeping an eye on,” Dickerson said.
In January, Timpanogos Middle School Principal Jim Judd offered a status update on the use of “phone boxes” for students. That method for monitoring phone use began in the 2024-25 school year. It coincides with a four-offense rulebook for phone use consequences.
The first time a student is seen on their phone, their device will go into the classroom lockbox for the remainder of class. The device will remain in the lockbox for the rest of the school day if there is a second offense. A third offense will result in parents having to pick up the students’ devices from a lockbox in the school office. Parents and administrators will meet to create a plan that addresses the issue if a student is seen on their phone for a fourth time.
Teachers do not monitor the offenses. Instead, students scan a QR code each time they put their phone into the classroom or office lockbox.
“This was not the battle that we thought it would be,” Judd said. “Kids, or the students, became compliant pretty quickly for the large part.”
“Phone box” offenses primarily occurred in eighth-grade classrooms, according to data collected by Timpanogos Middle School administrators over the first six weeks of the new policy. There were 85 instances of students using their phones in eighth-grade classrooms. In comparison, there were only 38 instances in seventh-grade classrooms and nine instances in sixth-grade classrooms over the same period.
The phone boxes are working when it comes to avoiding phone use during class times, according to Judd. But Judd also said at the meeting that a “bell-to-bell” ban on phones may not be necessary. He said he rarely observes many students using their smartphones during periods like lunchtime.
“I’m not quite sold on what bell to bell does differently than just no cell phones in the classroom,” Judd said.
Dickerson said the school district will “definitely follow what the law says” and will adjust its policies accordingly. That will also include training teachers to follow the new policies.
“I can’t speak for the whole board, but for me personally I believe that it is something that will help teachers where it’s not so distracting in the classroom,” Dickerson said.
There will not be a change in the district elementary schools’ policies. There, phone use is prohibited during all school hours. Special circumstances for phone use are permitted across the board for students with 504 or IEP plans. That will still be true with the implementation of S.B. 69.
Before passing the state Senate, Fillmore said the state House made the change to ensure that students who need to call home may do so in the school office on their cell phone rather than on the school’s landline.
The bill will take effect on July 1 if signed by Cox. Utah’s 2026 general session ends on March 6.