Do Illinois districts have to provide device storage?

Yes. The law requires districts to provide a place for students to store devices during the school day, which is why storage products such as locking pouches are part of most district plans.

Can an Illinois district go further than instructional time?

Yes. The statute sets a minimum. Districts are free to adopt a full bell-to-bell ban and several already have.

Instructional-day ban

Illinois school cell phone policy

Restriction on wireless device use during instructional time · SB 2427 (2025) · Effective 2026-27 school year

Illinois requires every public school district to adopt a policy prohibiting student use of wireless devices during instructional time from the 2026-27 school year. Districts must also provide a place to store devices during the school day and set out how students can be reached in an emergency.

What the law says

Scope

Instructional time as a floor. Districts may go further and adopt a full bell-to-bell ban, and several Chicago-area districts already have.

Enrollment: ~1.8 million students

Exceptions

Emergencies
Teacher-authorised educational use
IEP / 504 accommodations
Documented medical need

Method is left to the district

The storage requirement is the operative part for procurement: districts must offer somewhere to put the device. Pouches let a district meet that requirement without installing lockers or taking custody of student property.

A student releasing a PhoneLock pouch on a wall-mounted magnetic key unlocking station

What compliance looks like on the ground

Students seal their own phone at the door and keep it on them all day. At dismissal they touch the pouch to a fixed magnetic key station and walk out — no staff handling devices, no locker room of phones, and nothing for the district to be liable for.

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