At the beginning of the 2025 school year, Utah Senate Bill 178 was signed into law by Governor Spencer Cox. The bill effectively banned the use of cellphones during classroom instruction in schools statewide. However, ever since Bill 178 was passed, Cox has voiced further concerns, saying “it didn’t go far enough.”
In response, Cox’s right hand man, South Jordan Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, proposed an expansion of Bill 178, which would extend the cellphone ban throughout the full school day, including lunch periods and class transit time. According to Fillmore, it takes the additional and very important step of setting the baseline for cellphone policy in the state to be “cellphones are not allowed during school unless a school district or a charter school proactively allows them.” Earlier this year in February, the House voted 46-21 to approve the bill, and it passed through the Senate unanimously. The legislation now resides on Governor Cox’s desk, and if it is passed it will go into effect on July 1st later this year.
While the expansion was on the floor, Utah’s House of Representatives expressed significant concerns regarding whether or not students would have access to their phones during emergencies such as school shootings. As a result, the bill expansion will not prescribe locking devices in any specific way, leaving the decision up to the discretion of district superintendents and school principals. In addition, the law was altered so that it set the standard for cellphone regulation while also giving autonomy to individual schools. If the bill is passed, most high schools will be encouraged to implement a full day ban, but they will still retain the power to adopt their own cell phone policies as they see fit.
Local representation for the newfound bill stems from an organization called The Policy Project, a Utah nonprofit that advocates for more focused classrooms and learning. In an interview with Utah News Dispatch, The Policy Project president Emily McCormick spoke about the importance of bell-to-bell cellphone bans in “creating learning environments built for focus, connection and success.” The Policy Project has publicly praised Bill 185, calling it “a historic step” for schools statewide.
