EVANSVILLE — Coming soon: Exact details about what Indiana’s tough new bell-to-bell ban on cell phones in schools will look like for Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. (EVSC) students and parents.
How soon? EVSC spokesman Jason Woebkenberg wouldn’t give an estimated date — but soon, he said.
“We’re getting very close to letting people know exactly what the nuts and bolts details will be of that,” Woebkenberg said after Monday’s school board meeting.
It has to happen soon. The new law went into effect July 1, and the next school year begins for EVSC students on Aug. 10. That’s when students with last names K-Z are expected to begin attending school under EVSC’s plan for two “soft start” days for students for each half of the alphabet.
The wireless communication devices ban, passed by large margins in both houses of the Indiana Legislature in February, mandates that school districts may either forbid students from bringing devices to school at all, commonly called a “hard ban” — or that they require the devices be “stored away, powered off, and inaccessible to a student throughout the school day.”
It is tougher than a state law passed in 2024 banning portable wireless devices from being used during instructional time — but EVSC didn’t want the new law to begin with.
EVSC Superintendent Darla Hoover had told Sen. Vaneta Becker before the new devices law passed that she didn’t think it was necessary. Hoover was satisfied with the statute passed in 2024, under which students were allowed to use their devices during passing periods and cafeteria time.
Not everyone agrees. Statewide and local teachers union officials have said many students were openly disobeying the 2024 “instructional time only” law. Advocates of tougher measures say it was ineffective and didn’t maximize the social and mental health benefits that come with bell-to-bell bans.
As recently as the school board’s June 8 meeting — six weeks ago — board member Chris Kiefer asked what would happen if EVSC simply disregarded the new law, noting that he had heard people say they won’t comply with it.
Nevertheless, EVSC has pledged to make the state’s new devices ban work, one way or the other.
Which way? Woebkenberg wouldn’t speculate Monday night, but a couple of details have dribbled out.
EVSC Chief of Staff Rick Cameron told the school board on May 18 that the school corporation likely will require students to store their devices in “lockers or some other place” in lieu of its other option under the law — forbidding the devices from being brought to school altogether.
Pouches are off the table for liability-related reasons, EVSC has said.
But Woebkenberg could not think of anything else that has been ruled out.
EVSC’s limited remarks on the matter so far appear to make it clear a hard ban is not being considered.
Warrick County School Corporation (WCSC), about half the size of EVSC, decided on its implementation in May or early June, sending a notice explaining it all to parents on June 10. WCSC will require students to put their cell phones and other wireless communication devices in their assigned school lockers to comply with state law.
Woebkenberg had said many EVSC students willingly obeyed the 2024 instructional time only ban and had made it clear to him that they believed it had improved their relationships with other students and with teachers.
The EVSC spokesman also is confident that students will obey the new, tougher law.
“Once we release the exact details of the expectations, we know our students are going to rise to the occasion,” he said.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Coming soon: EVSC’s plan for new cell phone ban
Reporting by Thomas B. Langhorne, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Thomas B. Langhorne, Evansville Courier & Press | USA TODAY Network
