SALT LAKE CITY — Starting next school year, your child won't be able to use their cellphone at school. The new law banning those devices in Utah public schools was signed into law by Governor Spencer Cox on Thursday.
The official name of Senate Bill 178 is Devices in Public Schools.
Now, Utah school officials across the state are already busy making sure teachers, administrators and students are all on the same page when the next school year begins this fall.
“But it’s something that many of our parents and educators have wanted anyway," stated Jeff Haney, the spokesperson for the Canyons School District. "Reducing distractions so students can learn. That’s kind of at the root of this.”
Governor Spencer Cox signed more than 200 bills into law last month. But he only commented publicly on three of them, including Senate Bill 178. He called it a historic piece of legislation designed to limit cell phone use in Utah classrooms.
“I think there’s been conversations, not only in our district, but throughout the state,” explained Dr. Angela Wilkinson, a lifelong educator and the Principal at Sunrise Elementary School. She says cell phone distractions are increasing even in elementary schools, “And students going out of class and calling their parents, calling other people, texting in class. So it is going to be nice to have something in place that all schools can follow and be on the same page.”
Jeff Haney says that work is already underway, “So moving forward, a lot of policy work, a lot of discussions, but in the end, every school in the canyons school district will know what that guideline is and what the law says, and we are going to follow it.”
