By Sunayana Prabhu
TRENTON – A few days before his term ended, former Gov. Phil Murphy signed bipartisan legislation establishing a “bell-to-bell” ban on cellphones in kindergarten through 12th-grade schools that takes effect for the 2026-27 school year.
Calling it a “common sense” policy at the bill’s signing ceremony, Murphy said the ban will protect the mental well-being of students, help boost academic achievement and restore focus in classrooms.
School boards across the state, including in the Two River area, are now aligning their pre-existing cellphone rules with the new state mandates.
The cellphone ban applies to all internet-enabled devices, including smartphones, tablets and smartwatches, in classrooms during school hours, from the time the bell rings to start the school day until the dismissal bell. Bell-to-bell also includes time in between class periods and lunch. The ban will be implemented across all public and charter schools.
For nearly a year, a cellphone ban has been in place at Ramsey High School, where Murphy signed the legislation. “Within four months of adopting a bell-to-bell cellphone ban, nearly 80% of the faculty members on this campus reported increased engagement in class,” Murphy said during the signing ceremony.
“Students are more focused, they’re less anxious, and they are socializing and laughing with each other, not through a screen, but through hallways and in classrooms. So, with the legislation I’m signing today, we’re going to fundamentally improve the learning environment for every K through 12 student,” Murphy said.
The bipartisan bill was co-sponsored by Two River-area legislators, including Sen. Declan J. O’Scanlon Jr. (R-13), Sen. Vin Gopal (D-11), and Assembly members Luanne Peterpaul and Margie Donlon (D-11).
All public boards of education must adopt and implement the policy beginning with the 2026-27 school year. While all boards of education must adopt a policy that complies with state law, districts will retain flexibility in how policies are implemented, including decisions about device storage, supervision, and enforcement based on local needs. The state Department of Education recommends storage options for devices, such as locked pouches, school-managed lockers or bins, classroom-based storage or student-managed storage (e.g., backpacks or lockers).
The law provides exemptions for students with accommodations under an Individualized Education Program (IEP) pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as well as for students with documented health plans requiring monitoring. In such cases, parents must submit documentation from a health care professional demonstrating the need for cellphone use to support the student’s health and well-being.
“Initially, it’s going to be difficult,” said Louis B. Moore, Ph.D., Red Bank Regional School superintendent. The school has a long-standing practice of requiring students to place their cellphones in numbered classroom holders before class begins. While some students have appreciated that the absence of phones has bolstered classroom interaction and increased focus, Moore said, others have found ways to circumvent the rules by placing “dummy phones” or just the phone case in the holders.
“The potential positive impact of the ban will be that nobody can have a cellphone at school,” Moore said. He noted that “we’re going to go through a phase where we’re going to have to learn how to implement the ban. But I think once it’s implemented, I think very quickly people will be grateful for it.”
Parents have embraced the rules, Moore said. “I haven’t gotten a single complaint” from the parents, he said, noting “school should be a place for learning, for thinking, interacting with others and discovery. I think too much phone time takes away from those experiences.”
Students may have a different opinion.
Julius Reeves, a high school student in Red Bank, said no phones at all in school is “kind of a little much. God forbid there’s an emergency and we can’t contact anyone,” he said.
Reeves felt a rule to not have phones in the classroom was sufficient.
“I wouldn’t go anywhere without my phone,” he said.
But Callaghan McGee, a high school senior, thinks the cell phone ban will have a positive impact on students. “First of all, it will definitely help students focus in classrooms,” he said. “But there’s also a social expectation, especially with young people, that you have to be both reachable and in the loop at all times. While young people are a lot better at speaking to each other face-to-face than we’re given credit for, changing the expectation that you have to be online in order to be social would be great. And reducing the amount of time we spend on our phones will probably improve our mental health, too.”
In Holmdel, Superintendent Scott Cascone said his district is largely prepared for the ban, pointing to an existing K-8 prohibition on phones during the school day.
At the high school, students are allowed to use phones between classes and during lunch but not during class time, an existing school policy he said will need to be tightened come September. But, he noted, the ban is “not that significant a change from what we currently have in place.” Cascone said most parents support the restrictions, noting limited pushback.
Cascone also rejects the idea that phones make students safer during active shooter situations, calling them “a liability” and “a threat” because alerts or ringing could give away hiding spots.
However, he decried the accountability placed mostly on public schools “to address and cure all the ills that exist within our society, while the larger society remains largely out of sync with that.” He noted that, while schools are a “good place to start, there are other entities that also need to be held accountable,” calling for stronger legislative oversight of technology and social media companies.
The article originally appeared in the February 12 – 18, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
