Grundy County schools react to Pritzker’s plan to limit cellphones in classrooms

Gov. JB Pritzker announced during his State of the State address Wednesday an initiative to improve student performance by limiting the use of cellphones in Illinois classrooms.

“Improving the classroom environment and limiting distractions is vital to student achievement, and in conversations with educators and parents around the state, there is one thing they commonly cite as an impediment to learning in the classroom: cellphones,” Pritzker said in his address. “Furthermore, cyberbullying has expanded at alarming rates, and it’s time for Illinois to take measures to protect our kids.”

Pritzker said he plans to put forward legislation “requiring all school districts in Illinois to adopt a cellphone policy that bans the use of phones during classroom instruction,” although the plans would reportedly need to make exceptions for emergency situations and for individuals with medical necessities or language barriers that may require the use of special apps available on phones.

The proposed legislation, if passed, would require all schools to have a policy in place by the start of the 2026-27 school year.

Craig Ortiz, superintendent of Morris Community High School, said Pritzker’s cell phone ban is consistent with the district’s already-existing policy. He doesn’t anticipate much changing at Morris.

“Some schools have a ‘no phones at all throughout the entire day’ restriction, whereas we focus on instructional time and don’t worry so much about passing periods and lunch,” Ortiz said .“Like many things in education, I think local control may result in some districts taking a tougher or lighter stance than others, but I think the conversation about the negative impact of cell phones on students is very important.”

He said phones are a distraction to the learning process, and students at Morris don’t need their phones during class since the district is one-to-one with Chromebooks.

Ortiz said teachers who consistently enforce the school’s ‘no phones in class’ rules have reported a positive impact on their classroom, though it’s not always easy to enforce.

Dave Raffel, principal at Morris Elementary School District 54, said the district has seen similar positive effects in and out of the classroom since implementing a cell phone ban last year. He doesn’t anticipate Pritzker’s announced plan for a ban in schools to change how the district operates.

The elementary school works a bit differently. Students found using their cell phones during class are given one warning where there phone is taken away until the end of the day, when students go to the office and have a talk with one of the administrators, who then gives the phone back.

On strike two, the student doesn’t get their phone back until a parent or guardian comes in to pick up the phone.

On strike three, students have to bring their phone to the office before school every day and pick it up when they get ready to leave. Most students, Raffel said, just keep their phones in their locker during the day.

“We were seeing cell phone issues all the way down to like, third grade, even,” Raffel said. “We had rules like K-5th grade couldn’t use them at all during the day. We allowed junior high kids to use them in the morning when they were waiting to be dismissed to go to class, and we used to let them have them at lunch. The number of issues kept going up.”

Raffel said the rule change came in part way through the year, and behavioral issues between kids went down so the rule stayed in place.

He said the district relied on a committee of around 20 parents when coming up with the rule to get feedback, and all 20 were on-board with the plan.

“The kids are communicating better,” Raffel said. “My Dean of Students and I were just talking about how they seem happier, and it’s been a big relief to our people serving as lunch monitors. Overall, it’s starting to build that time of having to interact with each other, which I would still say that was one of our biggest dealings.”

Raffel said the district, like the high school district, is one-to-one with Chromebooks, so the kids aren’t without technology during the day, but he said kids typically learn better with physical media like books, and writing with paper and pencils.

He said he believes cell phones and other emerging technologies like AI can be useful tools that help schools personalize learning plans, but districts should be mindful when implementing them.