With schools back in session, students and faculty across Missouri are adjusting to a new statewide cellphone policy. Missouri Senate Bill 68, passed in July and taking effect in August, restricts cellphones in public schools from the arrival bell to the dismissal bell. 

The cellphone restriction includes lunchtimes and passing periods, which may be a sharp change for students. Lawmakers hope the requirement creates a “safe and undistracted learning environment.”

In general, exceptions to the policy rule will be made for emergency situations, such as a fire or safety threat to the school, if the student has specialized permissions or a healthcare plan, or if the teacher authorizes it for approved educational purposes. Parents are typically encouraged to call school offices if they need to contact their child throughout the school day.

The Call reached out to each South County public high school to hear how they’re adjusting to the new state law as the fall semester begins. Here’s the breakdown.

Mehlville High School and Oakville High School

“At Mehlville School District, we support strong and respectful relationships, student and staff well-being and distraction-free opportunities to learn and grow,” MSD superintendent Jeff Haug said in a release.

Mehlville and Oakville high schools say that faculty are working hard to establish strong routines that uphold the state law during the first few days of school. The first offense for breaking the new policy will be a verbal warning or a conference with a principal. After that, it may lead to phone confiscation.

Lindbergh High School

Lindbergh High School principal Eric Cochran says that the new policy is not so different from LHS’ policy prior to Senate Bill 68, except for the restriction of cellphones during passing periods and lunch times.

“The staff had a lot of procedural questions, but they also recognized it is an expanded version of what we were doing before,” Cochran said.

The new policy at Lindbergh involves a tiered approach to students who break the policy. On the first offense, there’s a verbal warning from teacher to student. On the second offense, the student will be sent to the office, where their phone will be confiscated to be picked up by the student at the end of the day.

On the third offense, the student will similarly be sent to the office, only the phone will be picked up by a parent at the end of the day. On the fourth offense, the student will turn their phone into the office upon arrival every school day for five days. 

“I’m sure (students) are anxious to see what it is like, but they are also used to having some version of cellphone restrictions both at our middle schools and at Lindbergh,” Cochran said.

Affton High School

“My first thought was that the ban seemed a bit excessive during non-instructional time,” Affton High School principal George Calhoun said. “However, since Affton High School already has a strong policy in place that has been effective for us, we only need to make minor adjustments to ensure compliance with Senate Bill 68.”

Enforcement at AHS will include an after-school detention on the first offense. On the second offense, there will be two after-school detentions and parent contact, and on the third offense, the student will receive a four-hour Saturday detention. Subsequent offenses will receive in-school suspension.

Prior to the state law, AHS students weren’t permitted to use their phones — or have them visible — during class time, but they were allowed to have them during passing periods and lunch. This was a policy established last year, according to Calhoun. 

“When we implemented our current policy last year, most feedback was positive. While students were initially frustrated, many eventually acknowledged the benefits of not having their phones in class,” Calhoun said. “Our students have already shown resilience in adapting to changes, and we’re confident they’ll handle this shift responsibly.”

Bayless High School

Similarly to AHS, at Bayless High School, a recent change to the phone policy was made last school year in January. The updated policy also banned cellphones during instructional time, but the new state law will crack down harder with restrictions during passing periods and lunches. 

“We did not have much negative feedback from students back in January, and the same is true for this fall,” BHS principal Eric Lawrence said.

Hancock Place High School

Leadership at Hancock Place High School has made an effort to use Missouri Senate Bill 68 as a learning opportunity for students. Principal David Williams led a collaborative activity during the first week of school where students studied the law and what it would mean for them; he hopes it helps them understand how legislation is passed and the role they play.

“This process has been extremely empowering. Students feel they have an authentic voice in shaping how the law is applied in our school, which has led to stronger buy-in,” Williams said. “While many are not excited about losing access to phones during lunch and passing times, they appreciate that their voices were included in the process. More importantly, they take pride in being recognized as valued, contributing members of our school community.”

For the past three years, cellphones during instructional time have been banned at Hancock Place High School. Williams says this has led to a “dramatic reduction” in discipline referrals and the failure rate, and the district has seen a rise in test scores in all tested subjects.