Plymouth Community Schools implements bell-to-bell cell phone ban beginning this fall

Plymouth Community School Board approved a new cell phone policy at its May meeting.

The policy implements a bell-to-bell device-free school day beginning with the 2026-2027 school year, in compliance with Indiana Senate Bill 78, which took effect July 1, 2026.

Under the new policy, students may bring personal communication devices — including cell phones, smartwatches, and gaming devices — to school, but all devices must remain powered off, stored, and inaccessible throughout the entire school day, from the start of school until dismissal. Use of personal devices during instructional time, passing periods, lunch, and any other school-day activities is prohibited.

Plymouth Community School Corporation is currently finalizing procedures to support the transition. Building-specific expectations and implementation details will be communicated by each school to families before the start of the school year in August.

Senate Bill 78, also known as Public Law 107, was authored by Senator Jeff Raatz (R-Richmond) and passed the Indiana Senate 36-12. The legislation requires every public school corporation and charter school in Indiana to adopt one of two policies: a full no-device policy that prohibits students from bringing wireless communication devices to school at all, or a storage policy requiring devices to be powered off and locked away for the entire school day. Plymouth Community Schools has chosen the storage policy approach.

Senator Raatz said the bell-to-bell restriction is aimed at reducing the ever-growing distractions that personal devices create in classrooms.

Families with questions about the upcoming policy changes are encouraged to watch for communications from their child's school before the August start of the school year.