From storage requirements to parent communication, here's a practical guide to helping your Indiana charter school comply with SB 78 and prepare for a smooth rollout.
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I'll be honest with you: as a former high school teacher, when I heard Indiana was passing a bell-to-bell phone ban, my first reaction was relief. Because I have stood at the front of a classroom, mid-lesson, watching a student's eyes glaze over, not because teaching the subjunctive tense in Spanish is boring, but because something on that tiny screen was just more immediately interesting. And I get it. I really do. I am a full-grown adult who has lost an embarrassing number of minutes to an Instagram doomscroll on a Tuesday night. I cannot, in good conscience, pretend that watching videos of funny cats is not more instantly gratifying than learning the quadratic formula. It absolutely is. The problem is that funny cat videos don't add much to your life, and the quadratic formula, or at least the critical thinking that comes with learning it, will.
So as an educator, I'm genuinely glad our students will have one less distraction pulling them away from learning.
But I'm also a mom. And the moment I put on that hat, a whole different set of feelings shows up. Because there is something a little uncomfortable about your child being one more step removed from you during the school day, especially in a world where it can feel like anything could happen at any time. That anxiety is real, and it deserves to be taken seriously, not brushed aside.
So let's do all three things in this post: walk through what the law actually requires, look at how charter schools can implement it well, and talk honestly about how we can ease the very legitimate concerns parents are bringing to our doors.
Indiana's SB 78 goes well beyond the 2024 classroom phone restriction that many schools were already navigating. Under that earlier law, students had to put phones away during instructional time, but could still use them in hallways, during lunch, and in between classes. That created uneven enforcement and constant headaches for teachers. Teachers were constantly forced to be the “phone-police” and deal with uneven rules and practices between classrooms, which created a lot of confusion and frustration.
The new law closes those gaps. Starting with the 2026–2027 school year, students may not use or access personal wireless devices from the first bell to the last bell, including during lunch and passing periods. The ban covers cell phones, smartwatches, tablets, laptops, and gaming devices.
Charter schools must choose between one of two compliance models:
The law defines it broadly: cellular phones, tablets, laptop computers, gaming devices, and smartwatches connected to a cellular network or the internet. If it connects wirelessly and it belongs to the student, it's covered.
Yes, but they are intentionally narrow. Devices may still be used by students who:
The Indiana Department of Education is publishing model policy language and implementation guidance, including how schools can use existing lockers and other resources to comply. Common approaches schools across the state are exploring include:
Storage pouches typically run $15–$30 per unit. The law does not require schools to purchase them, and it does not provide funding specifically for this purpose, though schools may charge families a reasonable fee if they choose to use pouches.
Charter schools are explicitly named in SB 78, this is not a traditional public school-only rule. Every Indiana charter school must adopt and publish a compliant wireless device policy on its website.
The good news: the law also provides liability protection. Charter schools and their staff are shielded from civil liability for good-faith enforcement of the policy, as long as actions don't rise to the level of gross negligence or intentional misconduct.
The research behind phone-free schools is compelling. Early data from schools that have already adopted all-day bans show a 44% improvement in student-reported learning outcomes and a significant reduction in behavioral referrals. Teachers report fewer cognitive interruptions; even a phone notification that goes unanswered can cost a student several minutes of focus time.
For charter schools, which often compete on culture and outcomes, a phone-free environment can become a genuine differentiator. Families are increasingly paying attention to how schools handle phones, and having a clear, consistent policy, communicated well before the first day, builds trust.
This is where it gets a little trickier. While we all can agree that phones and devices can be a big distraction in the learning environment, we can also probably agree that they make communicating quickly with your loved ones much easier! Many of the parents of students today have had cellphones the majority of their adult life, and the inability to contact their children may make them feel uneasy.
Here's what I'd say to worried parents and what I'd encourage charter school leaders to say too:
Your school is still reachable.
The phone ban doesn't create a communication blackout. Schools have front offices, phones, and staff. If there's an emergency or urgent situation, your child can reach you through the school, and you can reach your child. This was the system that worked for decades before smartphones, and it still works.
Emergencies don't actually require a student's personal cell phone.
In a genuine crisis, a student having a personal phone in class with them rarely changes outcomes. Schools have emergency protocols, and those protocols don't depend on a child's iPhone. In fact, many emergency departments and dispatches have said that too many calls in an emergency can muddle information and make coordination and response more difficult.
The anxiety driving this concern is worth addressing directly.
A lot of parents’ worry about phone access is really about a broader feeling of vulnerability, the sense that the world is unpredictable and connection is protection. That's a legitimate feeling, and it's worth talking about openly with your school community, separate from the policy itself. You may need to talk about your emergency response plans and how you keep students safe at school.
Build in communication touchpoints.
Charter schools can proactively ease parental anxiety by committing to quick communication when something unusual happens, an early dismissal, a lockdown drill, a building issue. When parents trust that the school will tell them what they need to know, the need to constantly monitor their child's whereabouts fades a little.
Involve parents in the rollout.
Host a Q&A before the school year starts. Let parents ask the hard questions in a room where someone can actually answer them. When people feel heard, they're far more likely to come alongside a change rather than resist it from the sidelines.
And this brings us to one of the most impactful things a school can do for its families, something that doesn't get talked about enough:
Building a customer service culture.
In my role, I've made a lot of "mock-parent" phone calls to schools. And I'll tell you what I find more often than not: an unreturned voicemail. A long hold. A front desk that genuinely wants to help but doesn't have the information or bandwidth to do it.
That's not a criticism of the people, it's a systems problem. But when we remove a communication channel that parents have come to rely on, the remaining channels have to be stronger, not just adequate.
Parents should be able to get their questions answered. Calls should be picked up. Voicemails should be returned the same day. That sounds simple, but it doesn't happen without intentional effort, and it absolutely will not change overnight. It means training front office staff, yes, but it also means protecting them from scope creep so they can actually do their jobs. A front desk receptionist who is also managing the attendance line, covering for an absent aide, and troubleshooting the copy machine cannot also be a calm, responsive first point of contact for worried parents. Something will need to give.
If you haven't already:
Indiana charter schools have always had the flexibility to build something different, a culture with intention behind it. This law is an opportunity to lean into that. It's not just a compliance checkbox. It's a chance to say clearly to students, families, and staff: we believe in the value of being present, and we're going to protect that.
The funny cat videos will still be there at 3:15 when school is over. The quadratic formula has a smaller window.
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