Georgia schools have another year before a statewide cellphone ban goes into effect — but some districts are getting a head start.
Gov. Brian Kemp signed the Distraction-Free Education Act into law over the objections of parents and advocates who worry the ban would mean less access to their children during emergencies. Early adopters of the ban have reported increased student engagement and a decrease in discipline problems.
The law prohibits students through eighth grade from accessing their personal electronic devices during the school day — including smartwatches and tablets.
Districts have until Jan. 1, 2026, to adopt policies around how they’ll handle the ban and until July 2026 to begin enforcing it, according to the law.
Several Atlanta school systems were already experimenting with restricted cellphone use in classrooms, and others have announced their plans in recent weeks. Each is taking a slightly different approach to enforcing the ban.
The Fulton County Board of Education in June approved a policy prohibiting the use of devices during the entire school day for students in grades K-8 and during instructional time for high schoolers. The policy does not specify how schools will restrict access.
“We have left how schools are going to store the devices up to the discretion of the schools,” Superintendent Mike Looney said, adding that many schools already use methods like storage lockers or shoe organizers to keep students from accessing their phones during class.
“We don’t want to fix something that’s not broken,” he said.
The Cobb County School District hasn’t adopted a new policy yet, but Superintendent Chris Ragsdale gave a preview of the plan in June. He said students will be expected to store their phones in their bags.
“We are not going to invest any money into storage solutions for cellphones,” he said. “The bottom line is we are going to be focused on having school.”
The DeKalb County School District spent the previous school year testing different methods for restricting cellphone access at select schools. The initiative was successful enough that the district plans to implement a ban for all students in the 2025-2026 school year, a spokesperson said.
“The initiative is consistent with long-standing district policy ... which has always prohibited the use of electronic devices,” stated a document outlining the district’s plan. The district is updating its policies to state that students cannot use electronic devices at any point during the school day, including during lunch and class changes.
The district plans to put cellphone lockers or something similar in its schools and is working to select a vendor.
Rockdale County adopted an approach already used in some metro Atlanta schools: Yondr pouches.
Students put their devices into pouches when they arrive at school, which remain locked and in the students’ possession for the duration of the school day. A staff member must unlock the pouch for the student to access the device.
The district agreed to spend $414,000 to purchase 12,000 pouches and about 13,000 unlocking devices.
“Our classrooms aim to foster an environment where every student can focus, engage, and thrive,” Rockdale Superintendent Shirley Chesser said in a news release. “By limiting personal electronic devices during instructional time, the Distraction-Free Education Act allows us to remove barriers to learning and restore the classroom as a place of instruction and connection.”
Other school systems in Georgia have used Yondr pouches, perhaps most notably Marietta City Schools. Superintendent Grant Rivera spoke to lawmakers multiple times during the legislative session about the benefits of Marietta’s cellphone ban.
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