{"id":48850,"date":"2025-07-31T00:54:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T00:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/48850\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T00:54:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T00:54:08","slug":"cellphones-banned-in-kentucky-classrooms-districts-will-set-their-own-policies-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/48850\/","title":{"rendered":"Cellphones banned in Kentucky classrooms, districts will set their own policies | Education"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) &#8212; Cellphones are banned inside Kentucky classrooms under a new law, but specific policies are being left up to individual districts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There are exceptions to the law for cellphone use during instructional time, but otherwise students aren&#8217;t allowed to have their phones out during class.<\/p>\n<p>More Local News:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wdrb.com\/news\/kentucky-derby-memorabilia-including-secretariats-horseshoe-hits-auction-block\/article_297ed863-c49a-4ed7-a115-7e9b0859f87f.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Kentucky Derby memorabilia, including Secretariat&#8217;s horseshoe, hits auction block<\/a><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wdrb.com\/news\/family-of-missing-kentucky-woman-refuses-to-lose-hope-after-seven-years\/article_20eece4c-e345-4377-8558-a073f5b5955d.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Family of missing Kentucky woman refuses to lose hope after seven years<\/a><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wdrb.com\/news\/2nd-measles-case-confirmed-in-louisville-connected-to-exposure-at-kroger\/article_8449e62f-bd8e-4505-939c-486fb71e4797.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">2nd measles case confirmed in Louisville connected to exposure at Kroger<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The new policy comes after Kentucky lawmakers passed <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.legislature.ky.gov\/record\/25rs\/hb208.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">House Bill 208<\/a> in March 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The law does not set a statewide standard for technology in schools, but it does require local school boards to create policies that keep cell phones out of the classroom.<\/p>\n<p>The law includes exemptions for emergencies, and for students who need their phones for health reasons. This includes apps to help students manage diabetes.<\/p>\n<p>JCPS leaders started developing a district-wide cellphone policy in February. At the time, then-superintendent Dr. Marty Pollio said creating an updated cellphone policy isn&#8217;t the hard part &#8212; it&#8217;s getting everyone across the district on-board with the plan.<\/p>\n<p>Each JCPS school has its own implementation plan. Some schools will require phones to stay in backpacks, while others have cell phone lock pouches, similar to those used at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wdrb.com\/news\/education\/fern-creek-high-school-seeing-results-after-implementing-phone-free-school-policy\/article_418c3e5a-9171-11ef-a9d2-7fbd4310d9c5.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Fern Creek High School<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>However, the district is banning cell phone use in schools throughout the school day. This includes during lunch and transitional periods.<\/p>\n<p>The only exception for JCPS schools is during an emergency.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Every school is creating its own policy to allow parents and guardians to get messages to students.\u00a0So your child&#8217;s school will have more specific information for you and your child.<\/p>\n<p>Nelson County Schools Superintendent Wes Bradley said the new law doesn&#8217;t change the district&#8217;s cellphone policy.\u00a0It stays the same, with no cellphones allowed in the classroom.<\/p>\n<p>Bullitt County Public Schools told us phones may be brought to school, but they have to be turned off and stored in a backpack, purse, or computer bag.<\/p>\n<p>BCPS elementary and middle school students are not allowed to use phones at any point during the day, but high school students can use their phones during lunchtime.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, Oldham County Schools sent an email to parents saying the board of education is voting on a proposed student cell phone policy for the school year.<\/p>\n<p>The board had its first reading of the policy Monday afternoon, and still needs to vote at a special-called meeting.<\/p>\n<p>The email said the goal is to approve the policy before the start of school.<\/p>\n<p>Related Coverage:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wdrb.com\/news\/education\/jcps-approves-policy-banning-cellphone-use-at-schools-starting-next-year\/article_d889c866-69df-4cc0-99fc-19154e6b089c.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">JCPS approves policy banning cellphone use at schools starting next year<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wdrb.com\/news\/education\/jcps-to-consider-stricter-cell-phone-policy-to-comply-with-new-state-law\/article_d2a05af9-74ea-42a8-9034-a9c6dd029a5b.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">JCPS to consider stricter cell phone policy to comply with new state law<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wdrb.com\/news\/education\/louisville-high-school-surveying-parents-on-creating-phone-free-school\/article_67228c48-bf59-4e85-b7b4-aa37aa361388.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Louisville high school surveying parents on creating &#8216;phone-free&#8217; school<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wdrb.com\/news\/education\/jcps-says-students-staff-suffer-with-unrestricted-cellphone-use-in-the-classroom\/article_da4d0130-f484-11ef-a446-f3371129386a.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">JCPS says students, staff suffer with unrestricted cellphone use in the classroom<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wdrb.com\/news\/education\/fern-creek-high-school-seeing-results-after-implementing-phone-free-school-policy\/article_418c3e5a-9171-11ef-a9d2-7fbd4310d9c5.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Fern Creek High School seeing results after implementing phone-free school policy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2025 WDRB Media. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) &#8212; Cellphones are banned inside Kentucky classrooms under a new law, but specific policies are&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48851,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[4,37985,37988,31145,21693,37991,37984,7206,21692,37993,37987,2558,21689,165,37986,37992,37989,37990,74,13594,21691,21690],"class_list":["post-48850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mobile","tag-breaking-news","tag-bullitt-county-schools-cellphone-rules","tag-cell-phone-ban-in-kentucky-schools","tag-college-education","tag-indiana-news","tag-jcps-emergency-communication-policy","tag-jcps-phone-ban-lunch-policy","tag-k-12-education","tag-kentucky-news","tag-kentucky-school-technology-policy","tag-kentucky-student-phone-restrictions","tag-latest-headlines","tag-louisville-news","tag-mobile","tag-nelson-county-student-cellphone-rules","tag-no-phone-policy-kentucky-classrooms","tag-school-phone-use-health-exemptions","tag-student-cellphone-use-diabetes-apps","tag-technology","tag-top-news","tag-wdrb","tag-wdrb-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}